PM for doing business with India using taka, rupee

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today stressed the need for expanding business between Bangladesh and India using their own currencies.

"We can do our business through exchanges of Bangladeshi Taka and Indian Rupee. It has already started, but we have to expand it further so that we can increase our businesses," she said while Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar paid a courtesy call on her.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024 at Hotel Bayerischer Hof this morning.

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud briefed journalists about the outcome of the meeting upon its completion.

Hasan said the prime minister and Jaishankar attached importance to doing business between the two friendly countries through their own currencies to reduce dependency on other currencies like the US dollar.

He said Bangladesh and India have excellent bilateral relations and it has elevated to another height under the leadership of the prime ministers of the two countries.

"The relations between the countries are getting stronger day by day," he said, adding that the two leaders discussed the issues during the meeting.

Quoting Jaishankar, Hasan said, "Our relations will further be closer in the days ahead."

Bangladesh Ambassador to Germany Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and PM's Deputy Press Secretary Md Noorelahi Mina were present during the briefing.

Hasina arrived in Munich on February 15 on a three-day official visit to join the Munich Security Conference 2024.

Upon completion of the tour, she will leave tomorrow night and is scheduled to reach Dhaka on February 19.