Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is going to India tomorrow on a four-day state visit, with trade cooperation, including securing fuel oils and essential commodities, high on the agenda this time amid a volatile global market following the Russia-Ukraine war.
During the summit meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries, Bangladesh and India are likely to reach agreements on the supply of commodities like rice, wheat and onions to the former, according to officials.
India, now importing crude oil at lower prices from Russia, is willing to export diesel to Bangladesh, said officials.
Talking on the PM’s visit to India, foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen said that different issues would be discussed during the visit since the relations between Bangladesh and India were multifaceted.
He said on August 29 that they would try to go for a long-term deal on fuel supply with India, now in a better situation in the energy sector.
‘We would try to go for a long-term agreement with India if they have a surplus in fuel oil. We are in a tight situation and expect cooperation from India in this regard,’ the foreign secretary told reporters at his office on August 29.
Hasina’s visit will take place at the invitation of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi from September 5 to 8, 2022.
During the visit, Hasina would also seek India’s cooperation in resolving the Rohingya crisis for regional stability beside other issues, including defence and economic cooperation, as Bangladesh has been hosting over 11 lakh forcibly displaced people from Myanmar following a military crackdown in Rakhine state in 2017, officials said.
Bangladesh would also renew its call for the signing of the Teesta water sharing deal, hanging in the balance for a long time, and of the framework agreements on six of the 54 common rivers for its rightful shares as the lower riparian country because India withdraws waters unilaterally from the trans-boundary rivers.
‘We will obviously raise the [issue of] Teesta water sharing deal since it has been sealed. We will have an expectation that they would complete their formalities about it,’ Masud Bin Momen said.
The 38th Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission meeting ended in New Delhi on August 25 after a gap of 12 years without any outcome on the Teesta water sharing agreement that had been left pending since 2011 due to the last-minute opposition from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Sheikh Hasina will lead a high-level delegation which is expected to include several ministers, advisers and senior government officials.
The two countries are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding on the withdrawal of waters from the common river Kushiyara and the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Representatives of Bangladesh business bodies will also accompany the prime minister during her visit.
According to retired foreign secretary Md Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh that has to import essential commodities from India needs to reach an agreement for an equal treatment so that there are no non-tariff barriers for Bangladeshi products having market in India.
‘The Bangladesh side should also raise the issue of border killings by the Border Security Force of India to secure an assurance from the highest level for stopping such killings without any further rhetoric over the issue,’ he told New Age on Saturday.
During the visit, Hasina will be formally received by prime minister Modi while a ceremonial guard of honour will be accorded to her.
Hasina will pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, said a foreign ministry press release on September 1.
The Bangladesh prime minister will hold bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart Modi at the Hyderabad House on September 6. On the same day, she will also make a courtesy call on Indian President Droupadi Murmu.
Hasina is also scheduled to attend a state lunch to be hosted by the Indian prime minister in her honour.
India’s Minister of External Affairs and some other dignitaries are expected to pay courtesy calls on the Bangladesh prime minister during her stay.
Several agreements and MOUs are expected to be signed during the visit, the foreign ministry release said.
Hasina is also scheduled to attend a business event to be organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries.
Later on, she is expected to award the Mujib Scholarship, an initiative of the government of Bangladesh, to the descendants of 200 Indian Armed Forces personnel who were martyred and critically injured during Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971.
The prime minister is scheduled to return to Dhaka on September 8.
‘The visit is significant for both Bangladesh and India as it will open new windows of cooperation between the two friendly countries,’ said the foreign ministry release.
Hasina last visited India in 2019 before the Covid pandemic broke out.