India and Bangladesh are expected to sign at least seven agreements on September 6, 2022 covering diverse areas such as water sharing, connectivity, defence and trade, The Hindu has learnt. The agreements will be sealed following official-level talks that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hold with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Ms. Hasina arrived in New Delhi on September 5, 2022 and was welcomed by Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka Vikram Doraiswamy and Minister of State for Railways and Textiles Darshana Jardosh.
Among the first senior representatives to meet the visiting dignitary was External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who called on her and said, “The warmth and frequency of our leadership-level contacts is a testimony to our close neighbourly partnership.” Ms. Hasina prayed at the shrine of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin here and later, in the evening, she met with senior diplomats, journalists and professionals at an interaction organised by the Bangladesh High Commission. Minister of Surface Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi and Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Vijay Kumar Singh accompanied Ms. Hasina at the event.
Speaking to journalists at a reception at the Bangladesh High Commission on Monday, Ms. Hasina confirmed that she would raise two contentious issues on the river water agreements and Rohingya refugees during her talks with Mr. Modi. “India is a very big country, and can do a lot for the Rohingya, especially in helping their repatriation back [to Myanmar],” Ms. Hasina said in response to a question from The Hindu on what she hoped from India. While the Bangladesh Prime Minister declined to speak about the long-pending Teesta agreement in particular, she said the two countries could cooperate in a number of ways, and suggested that India consider a Line of Credit for dredging and desilting river beds to prevent flooding, as well as to regenerate and revive streams in Bangladesh.
