Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka and conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message of India’s continued commitment to the bilateral relationship, upholding Bangladesh as the pivot of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ and a key partner of its ‘Act East Policy’.

Kwatra, who is on a two-day visit to Dhaka, also called on Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen and conveyed the greetings of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Advertisement

During the Foreign Office consultations between the two countries, Kwatra and Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud bin Momen held wide-ranging discussions covering all aspects of the relationship.

Both sides agreed to further strengthen ongoing bilateral cooperation, in diverse areas, including the Government of India-funded concessional Lines of Credit, trade and investment, connectivity, power and energy, defence and security, and people-to-people ties.

”They also agreed to enhance their cooperation and consultations on regional and international issues of shared interest. In this context, India looks forward to the active participation of Bangladesh as the Guest Country at various events during India’s presidency of G-20. Both sides also agreed to extend reciprocal support to each other’s upcoming candidature for Non-Permanent membership of the UN Security Council,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

In recent years, especially in the last decade, India and Bangladesh have sustained a high level of engagement, including at the leaders’ level. The visit of the Indian foreign secretary helped further strengthen the multifaceted partnership between the two countries, reinforced their time-tested ties and provided an opportunity to comprehensively review progress in the bilateral relationship, the MEA added.