Narendra Modi Eagerly Waits to Visit Bangladesh

Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar handed over the letter when he paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister at her Jatiya Sangsad Office here this evening.

After the meeting, PM's Press Secretary AKM Shameem Chowdhuri briefed reporters.

"I am eagerly waiting to visit Bangladesh soon," Modi mentioned in the letter, the press secretary said.

In this connection, the Prime Minister wanted to know from the Indian foreign secretary when the Indian prime minister will pay a visit to Bangladesh? "We are eagerly waiting to welcome him in Bangladesh," Sheikh Hasina said.

In reply, the Indian foreign secretary responded positively, the press secretary said.

He said the Indian premier reiterated his invitation to his Bangladesh counterpart to visit India.

The press secretary said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Indian foreign secretary discussed issues relating to bilateral interests.

The Indian foreign secretary said New Delhi is going to ink two agreements soon with Dhaka for further boosting bilateral trade and commerce between the two neigbouring countries.

"We would sign two deals---The Protocol on Trade and The Agreement on Coastal Shipping---with Bangladesh soon," he said.

The Prime Minister recalled her talks with the Indian premier in New York and Kathmandu. "We agreed on many issues in the talks and I hope those would be implemented," she said.

The Prime Minister and the Indian foreign secretary discussed the projects being implemented under the Indian Line of Credit (LoC) and expressed satisfaction over the progress of these projects.

The Indian foreign secretary said: "We could solve many problems
bilaterally beyond the SAARC framework."

He said there are a lot of potentialities in energy sector cooperation between India and Bangladesh, adding the private sector could play a leading role in this regard.

Expressing satisfaction over the progress of construction of the coal-fired Rampal power plant being implemented under India-Bangladesh joint venture, he said the project is now on the right track.

The Prime Minister and the Indian foreign secretary discussed importing hydroelectricity from Bhutan.

Sheikh Hasina expressed interest to import more electricity from Palatana Power Plant in the Indian state of Tripura. In response, Dr Jaishankar said: "More electricity would go to Bangladesh."

PM's International Affairs Advisor Dr Gowher Rizvi, Principal Secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Hoque, Bangladesh High Commissioner in New Delhi Syed Moazzem Ali, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran and PM's Press Secretary AKM Shameem Chowdhuri were present on the occasion.