Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud at the latter's office in Dhaka on Monday. This is the first meeting between Hasan Mahmud and any foreign envoy after taking charge of the foreign ministry.
During the meeting held at the Foreign Ministry in the capital's Segunbagicha on Monday (January 15th), the minister expressed satisfaction over the existing bilateral relations between the two immediate neighbors and hoped to work more closely in the days to come.
"We are trying to complete the ongoing work on establishing inter-country rail and road connectivity quickly to expand connectivity and trade between the people of the two countries. Besides, the initiative to use local currency i.e. Bangladeshi taka and Indian rupee in bilateral trade to reduce dependence on international currencies is highly praiseworthy. This will benefit both countries," said Hasan Mahmud.
During the meeting, the Foreign Minister thanked the Government of India and Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jayshankar for conveying congratulatory messages on his assumption of office. Thank you Jaishankar. More investment, coastal shipping, and increasing the number of border haats (weekly markets) were discussed in the meeting. The minister also stressed starting work on the Ganges water-sharing treaty which will expire in 2026.
The Indian High Commissioner congratulated the Foreign Minister and termed 2023 as the most successful year.
He said some major projects on transport, connectivity, and power between the two countries were completed in the year 2023 and several new projects have been initiated. He stressed the need to cooperate in areas such as climate change, digital payment systems, start-up initiatives, ease of doing business, and many more.
Pranay Verma, on behalf of the Indian external affairs minister, invited Dr Hasan Mahmud to visit New Delhi at a mutually convenient time. The foreign minister accepted the invitation and said he would visit Delhi soon.
The foreign minister informed the Indian high commissioner that the January 7 general election was free, fair, and participatory and election observers from different countries and organizations across the world expressed their satisfaction with the election process. BNP intimidated people in the name of movement and demonstration to resist the election, hurled petrol bombs on people and vehicles, and even burnt people including women and children to death by setting fire to trains.
But people responded spontaneously, with an average voter turnout of about 42 percent across the country and more than 70 percent in some places, he added.
