Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be on a four-day state visit to India from September 5-8. She will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including a number of ministers and industrialists.
During her visit, Hasina will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6th September at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. She will also call on President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar the same day.
Hasina’s visit holds significance in the wake of several regional and bilateral issues. An important issue that the Bangladesh PM is expected to discuss with PM Modi is regarding the Rohingya refugees.
For five years now, over a million Rohingya refugees have been living in several camps in Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s effort to repatriate them to their homeland in Rakhine states in Myanmar has not been met much success due to the perpetually reluctant Junta.
Humanitarian assistance has been offered by various parts of the world for the Rohingya, including from UN agencies and India. However, with no sign of their return in sight, there is a growing apprehension in Bangladesh that the Rohingya refugee crisis may soon turn into a social discord that could create instability at the national level.
Bangladesh has also maintained that the Rohingya crisis is not a bilateral issue to be discussed and sorted between Bangladesh and Myanmar but a regional crisis that begs attention from all the countries in the region.
Additionally, India and Bangladesh are expected to sign about a dozen MoU’s with focus on energy, trade, food security, connectivity, river water sharing, security and defense.
The two countries are also working on finalising a long-term agreement on importing fuel from India. Sheikh Hasina’s government has been facing the heat back home due to the rising fuel prices, which is having an adverse effect on the everyday life of a common Bangladeshi. With supply chains reeling under pressure due to the current crisis on account of the Ukraine conflict, Bangladesh is also exploring a mechanism to have a continuous supply of food staples like wheat, onion, pulses and spices from India.
India-Bangladesh bilateral trade stood at around $14 billion last year, with Bangladesh exporting products worth close to $2 billion to India. Both countries have been discussing ways to enhance the bilateral trade and investments and there could be significant progress on creating a comprehensive economic partnership during the upcoming bilateral talks between the two neighboring countries.
Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh holds significant importance for a country like India as it could play a key role in fulfilling its Look East Policy.
In the last few years, India and Bangladesh have been able to resolve major disputes over land and maritime boundaries. However, sharing of river water is something both countries are trying to finalise through regular discussion during their Joint River Commission meetings.
A decision on some of the river water sharing is also expected to be announced after the meeting of the two leaders.
Bangladesh is geographically located in a way where it can provide critical connecting routes to India for its own North-East region states. Bangladesh could also provide vital linkages for India by integrating South and Southeast Asian economies through intense road, rail and riverine transport connectivity between the two countries.
With Increasing value of dollars in the international market and depleting forex reserves, India-Bangladesh are also exploring the use of Indian rupee for trade between the two countries.
Sheikh Hasina will also be awarding the Mujib Scholarship in the name of Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. The scholarship will be given to the descendants of 200 Indian Armed Forces personnel who laid down their lives or were critically injured during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
After Tuesday’s meetings with senior leadership in Delhi, Hasina will address a meeting on Wednesday with top business leaders, and visit the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan before returning to Dhaka on September 8.
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