JCC meet in Delhi: Dhaka to focus on duty waiver, water sharing
Dhaka will be focusing on water sharing, waiver of anti-dumping duty on jute and energy security during the foreign minister-level Joint Consultative Commission meeting scheduled in Delhi tomorrow.
The 7th JCC will also discuss regional cooperation, especially the connectivity projects linking different parts of India via Bangladesh, as well as connect South Asia to Southeast Asian region, said officials concerned.
The meeting that will be led by Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen from Bangladeshi side and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar from Indian side will also discuss the schedule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India later this year. Momen today leaves for Delhi.
The JCC meeting was scheduled for May 30 in Guwahati, Assam, just after the River Conclave, but was rescheduled."In the last months, secretary-level meetings of ministries of water, home, commerce and railways were held, and the JCC will discuss all the bilateral issues, see the progress and decide the next course of action," said an official at the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi.
WATER SHARING
Transboundary river management is a crucial issue for Bangladesh as the two countries share 54 common rivers. The Teesta water-sharing deal could not be signed despite all preparations in 2011 due to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's opposition.
The two countries then were discussing an agreement on water-sharing of six rivers -- Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar.
Besides, Dhaka wants India to implement Bangladesh's Upper Surma-Kushiyara project to increase the rivers' navigability through dredging and excavation.
Talking to journalists recently, Foreign Minister Momen stressed the need for joint river management to improve the life and livelihood of the people on the river basins and for weather forecast data sharing on flood, citing the recent heavy flooding in Sylhet region following rains in Assam and Meghalaya.
"Dhaka will actively raise these issues with Delhi," said a foreign ministry official.
BOOSTING TRADE
Bangladesh-India bilateral trade has surpassed $10 billion dollars last year, with Bangladesh exporting to India slightly above $1 billion. One of Bangladesh's requests to India is removing anti-dumping duty on export of jute. Besides, there are some para-tariff and non-tariff issues in both the countries.
Foreign ministry officials said these issues will be raised to minimise trade gap.
ENERGY COOPERATION
As Bangladesh moves towards industrialisation and faces the threat of climate change, it seeks regional hydropower connectivity with India, Nepal and Bhutan. And India's cooperation will be crucial to this end.
A foreign ministry official said Dhaka would stress the importance of this during the JCC.
Bangladesh will also reiterate its willingness to join the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway that links Moreh to Moe Sot in Thailand, through Myanmar.
"Our relationship with India is comprehensive. While we have worked mostly on a bilateral basis so far, we would also like to work from the regional approach," said a foreign ministry official.
There are also the issues of border killings, the number of which has dropped in recent times. Yet, Dhaka will put emphasis on better border management to stop such killings and improve border haats and check smuggling, he added.
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