India-Bangla bonhomie touches new high,official visit next week

Happy with the progress on the India-Bangladesh communiqué this year,the two sides agreed to have a bilateral official visit next week and accordingly,Advisor to Bangladesh PM will be coming to India.

Officials from both countries noted that both sides were closer to each other and this had,in fact,brought in a calming influence on the regional grouping the climate change position on common but differentiated responsibilities adopted on Thursday being one of them.

An Indian diplomat said Bangladesh can play a vital role as the third largest country in the grouping,especially in SAFTA,and that the present leaderships in both the countries are partnership-oriented and have a non-confrontationist approach.

A Bangladesh diplomat said India-Bangla relations complements the SAARC,especially in areas like trade-cooperation mechanism,terrorism,human trafficking,environment,and connectivity.

An official pointed out that out of the $11 billion trade in South Asia,$4 billion trade was between India and Bangladesh. Similarly,in matters of connectivity,under the multi-modal report on trade and transit,10 routes were identified as priority areas,of which seven touched India and Bangladesh.

Since India,Pakistan and Bangladesh are countries with substantial economies,good relation helps broadening the consensus. And consensus amongst the bigger countries in South Asia is important,and the projection of that can be seen in the Thimphu summit,officials remarked.