Indo-Bangla JCC meet: Unity needed to see off hard times
Bangladesh and India yesterday agreed to work closely to further strengthen cooperation in the areas of common rivers and water resource management.
The two countries have also pledged to expand collaboration on cyber security, IT and food security.
The decisions were taken at the seventh Joint Commission meeting, co-chaired by Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
The return of the forcibly displaced people (Rohingya refugees) to Myanmar from Bangladesh is of great importance, a joint statement said.
The two foreign ministers reviewed all areas of ongoing cooperation, including the implementation of decisions taken during the visits of Indian President Ram Nath Kovind in December last year and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2021.
They also reviewed decisions taken at the virtual summit between the prime ministers of the two countries in December 2020 as well as the last virtual meeting of the JCC in September 2020.
This was the first in-person JCC meeting convened since the onset of the pandemic.
The ministers expressed satisfaction that despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the two countries have worked closer than ever before.
At the meeting, Momen said that in view of the growing mutual dependency of their economies, the two countries need collective efforts to recover from the economic devastations caused by the pandemic and disruption of supply chain due to the Ukraine war.
Bangladesh, he said, has made a strong recovery from the pandemic but the volatility of markets following the Ukraine conflict is a cause for concern.
"We need collective, collaborative efforts to sustain our economic growth and maintain peace, security and stability in the region."
In the last 12 years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladesh government has taken "bold steps towards strengthening our relations with India in depth and dimensions," Momen said.
Jaishankar said India looked forward to working with Bangladesh to take bilateral ties to new domains -- Artificial Intelligence, cyber security, start-ups and Fintech.
He said the two countries also need to work together on management and conservation of the 54 common rivers and their shared responsibility towards the environment, especially the Sundarbans.
India, he pointed out, is both the largest producer and consumer of energy in the region and would be very happy to work with Bangladesh to structure a progressive partnership in the areas of production, transmission and electricity trade.
Jaishankar said, "Our ties today reflect the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. We are truly at a shonali adhyaya [golden chapter]."
The Indian minister said better management of India-Bangladesh long border is also a key priority.
"Our border guarding forces is committed to combating trans-border crimes. We must continue to work together to make sure that the border remains crime-free."
During his visit to New Delhi, Momen will call on Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu tomorrow and other dignitaries of the government of India.
It was agreed that the next round of the India-Bangladesh JCC will be held in Bangladesh next year.