India, Bangladesh foreign ministers to hold virtual meet to examine ties

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Connectivity and development projects and sharing of river waters are anticipated to be on the agenda of a meeting of the India- Bangladesh joint consultative commission (JCC) to be held on Tuesday, people acquainted with developments said.

The creation of a fresh mechanism to examine the progress of bilateral development projects can be expected to figure in the virtual meeting to be chaired by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen, the people said on condition of anonymity.

The Bangladeshi side will probably improve the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar and trade issues including the recent Indian ban on onion exports. Other conditions that are likely to appear are irritants in border management and creation of an air bubble, they added.

The sixth meeting of the JCC has been held at a time when bilateral ties have already been afflicted by a string of irritants, including concerns in Bangladesh over comments by BJP leaders about the deportation of illegitimate migrants from Assam, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the ban on onion exports.

The JCC meet will prepare the bottom for a virtual meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina in December. The Bangladeshi foreign minister announced this meeting while interacting with reporters in Dhaka on Monday, though the date is yet to be finalised.

“It'll be a virtual meeting… if the pandemic situation improves, it may be in person (in December),” Momen said. He indicated some agreements could be signed during the meeting between your premiers.

Referring to the JCC meeting, Momen said, “India is our neighbour and our best friend. We've many things to go over.”

The JCC meeting provides both sides an possibility to clear the air on issues which may have impacted the entire relationship. New Delhi took the initiative to put ties back on a straight keel by sending foreign secretary Harsh Shringla to Dhaka in August when he delivered a message from PM Modi to Hasina.

Shringla had also discussed the creation of a high-level mechanism to regularly review the progress of development projects funded by India during his meeting with Hasina. At least five key projects, including an oil pipeline and three cross-border rail links, are set to be completed in 2021. The monitoring mechanism will be jointly chaired by the Indian envoy in Dhaka and the Bangladeshi foreign secretary and will be on the lines of a similar mechanism India has generated with Nepal.

The JCC meeting can be likely to decide the date for holding a gathering of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) which has not met since 2010. Bangladesh had called off a gathering of the JRC scheduled for December this past year when concerns in Dhaka about the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) were at a peak.

The foreign ministers are expected to discuss a draft framework for water-sharing agreements on six rivers - Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar - the people cited above said.

The JCC meet will also discuss programmes to be organised during “Mujib Borsho” or the birth centenary of Bangladesh’s “Father of the Nation” Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of Bangladesh in 2021.

The 5th JCC meeting happened in New Delhi in February last year wherein both sides had signed four MoUs to strengthen multifaceted cooperation. However, Momen said no agreements were likely to be signed during Tuesday’s meeting. 
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com

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