India-Bangladesh JCC Meet Sept-End

The 6th meeting of the Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) is going to be held by the end of this month.

Indian Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jayshankar called his Bangladeshi counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday to finalize the date for the same.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) tweeted that Dr S Jayshankar called Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday to finalize the date.

After the telephonic conversation, MEA tweets: "warm conversation with FM Dr AK Abdul Momen of Bangladesh. Agreed to hold our Joint Consultative Commission meeting very soon. Will continue to work closely to reach the ambitious goal set by our leaders," said MEA.

In a press statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh also confirmed the telephonic conversation.

''Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen held a telephonic talk with Indian foreign minister Dr S Jayshankar today (Monday). They agreed to hold JCC meeting virtually by the end of this month.''

After India withdraws the international travel ban, Jayshankar is expected to visit Bangladesh, it added.

Two foreign ministers will co-chair the meeting hoping to be held on September 29-30, sources said.

Rohingya repatriation and river water sharing are included in the agenda of discussions to resolve the long pending issues.

Meeting between the two border guards BSF and BGB will also be held before the JCC meeting.

A large delegation from ministries of external affairs coupled with high officials from home ministry will travel as a member of the delegation.

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla visited Dhaka last month and proposed JCC meeting between two countries amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

The 5th JCC meeting was held in New Delhi in February last year. It was co-chaired by the then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and his counterpart A H Mahmood Ali.

In the upcoming meeting, both sides will discuss the gamut of bilateral issues of mutual interest, including implementation of decisions taken during a meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her counterpart Narendra Modi.

Security, border management, trade and investment, power, energy, river water sharing, development partnership, new transport connectivity, culture, and people-to-people contact will be tabled for discussion.

This time, engagement may broaden with the inclusion of new high technology areas for partnerships such as space, nuclear energy, IT and electronics.

Partnership building efforts to celebrate Bangabandhu’s birth centenary and the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh liberation will also be discussed.

Meanwhile, Dr AK Abdul Momen is expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a three-day stay in New Delhi.

The delegation led by him may pay respect to the late former President Pranab Mukherjee.