Indian foreign secretary due today
Indian Foreign Secretary Subramanyam Jaishankar flies to Dhaka this morning to convey New Delhi's intention of early resolution of pending water and land issues and explore new areas of talks focusing on connectivity, energy cooperation, and trade.
Diplomatic sources said India's top diplomat is coming as part of his “yatra” of four Saarc countries from yesterday, with Bhutan as the first stop. He is seeking to revive and reinforce New Delhi's neighbourhood diplomacy.
Jaishankar, who took over on January 29, is coming to Dhaka for a 24-hour working visit and then he will travel to Islamabad tomorrow and Kabul the following day.
His discussion will focus on sub-regional level cooperation involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN).
In Dhaka he will hold official talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Md Shahidul Haque and call on Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. During this time Jaishankar will discuss an entire range of bilateral, sub-regional and regional issues on common interest.
Discussions will also include bilateral issues including a Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) and the Teesta water deal. The LBA is expected to be tabled in the Indian Parliament for clearance. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured Dhaka of her support for the Teesta deal during her visit to Dhaka on February 19-21.
Diplomatic sources in Dhaka and New Delhi also said Jaishankar would initiate discussion with the government high-ups on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka during his visit.
They said if everything went fine, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj would also pay a visit.
“He [Modi] is very keen on visiting Bangladesh at the earliest, and he is looking forward to it,” said an Indian diplomat, adding, “Modi has earlier announced his acceptance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's invitation.”
However, a prime ministerial visit could not take place without at least deliverables on the two key issues with Bangladesh, the LBA and Teesta deal.
Jaishankar's visit to the region comes at a time when India is pushing ahead with a sub-regional connectivity project with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to provide easier transit of passenger, personal and cargo vehicles among the four Saarc nations.
The Joint Working Group (JWG) of BBIN at a meeting on January 30-31 in New Delhi reviewed the existing cooperation and discussed the scope for power trade and inter-grid connectivity between the four countries as well as potential for closer cooperation in future power projects.
India's offer to start electricity trading among BBIN will also come up for discussion during his meeting with the Bangladeshi dignitaries.
The four nations have also agreed that joint efforts would be made to explore harnessing of water resources including hydropower and power from other sources available in the sub-region.
Jaishankar's visit to Bangladesh comes at a time when the country is in the throes of continuing political unrest spurred by the BNP-led 20-party combine.
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