DHAKA: Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh Tuesday reiterated that the government of India is fully engaged in resolving pending issues with Bangladesh.
He also assured with reference to the proposed Tipaimukh Hydro-electric dam project and River Inter-linking project that India would not take any unilateral action, which would have an adverse impact on Bangladesh.
The Indian Prime Minister made the assurance Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni when she made a courtesy call on the premier of India at the end of her two-day visit to India at the government residence of Indian premier in Delhi.
Earlier, she also called on Minister for Home Affairs P Chidambaram and Minister for Water Resources Pawan Bansal.
During her call on the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, he conveyed his greetings to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and stated the government and people of India had the greatest respect and deep admiration for her efforts to further develop the existing excellent bilateral relations between the two friendly countries.
The Indian premier conveyed the full commitment of his government to implement the various initiatives agreed to between him and Prime Minister of Bangladesh to work together for not only mutual benefit, but also for the socio-economic development of the entire region.
Monmohan also reiterated that the government of India is fully engaged in resolving pending issues.
He assured with reference to the proposed Tipaimukh Hydro-electric dam project and River Inter-linking project that India would not take any unilateral action which would have an adverse impact on Bangladesh.
Indian premier also asserted that Bangladesh and India should work with other neighbours in the region for economic growth and development.
Besides, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni expressed her happiness on coming to India for two special events, the First Meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission (JSS) and to represent Bangladesh at the concluding ceremony of the joint celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
She noted with satisfaction that since his visit to Dhaka in September 2011, there has been significant forward movement in the initiatives undertaken by both Bangladesh and India to further deepen and widen the relations between the two countries and also asserted the commitment of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Government of Bangladesh to harness the synergies for mutual benefit.
Apart from this, during her meeting with the Indian Home Minister, the two ministers discussed issues of mutual interest particularly those related to the security issues.
They expressed satisfaction that the multi-tiered mechanism for consultations between the two sides was well established and the various engagements including JWG on security issues, DG BGB-BSF conference, Home Secretaries and Home Ministers are taking place regularly.
They particularly noted with satisfaction as desired by the two Prime Ministers the regular consultations between the Home Ministers of the two countries had been initiated by the visit of Advocate Sahara Khatun in India February this year.
They also noted with satisfaction that the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP), had been implemented and the border guarding forces of the two countries were working accordingly to combat cross border illegal activities.
Dipu Moni reiterated the concern of the Bangladesh side regarding the incidence of firing and killing of Bangladeshi nationals along the border areas and noting the assurance in this regard from the highest political level, sought sustained efforts from Indian side to eliminate this irritant.
The two ministers agreed to continue their cooperation on the security matters.
During the meeting with the Minister for Water Resources, Dipu Moni noted that the two sides had earlier agreed to a framework for the interim agreement on the sharing of water of Teesta on the basis of equity and fairness.
She expressed hope that the interim agreement for sharing of Teesta water would be concluded expeditiously.
The Minister noted with satisfaction that a sub-group under Joint River Commission (JRC), to look into all aspects of the proposed Tipaimukh Hydro-electric project, has already been constituted in Bangladesh.
She urged the Water Resources Minister of India to constitute their side of the sub-group and give directions to convene the first meeting of sub-group expeditiously.
In response to the concern of the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, the Indian Minister reiterated its commitment that India would not take any unilateral decision on the Himalayan component of the proposed River Inter Linking Project which would affect Bangladesh.
Both the Ministers noted with satisfaction the formation of technical-level teams for sub-regional cooperation in Water & Power by both the countries and hoped that the first meeting would be convened at an early date.
Dipu Moni leaves Delhi for Cairo on Thursday night.
BDST: 2145 HRS, MAY 08, 2012
AKR / Edited by: M. Mahbub Alam, Asst Output Editor
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