Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is all set to begin her four-day visit to India from Monday. Her latest visit will reportedly focus on connectivity, energy and food security as well as trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.
While Bangladesh and India share similarities in terms of culture, economics, language, political history, and religion and despite the fact that India was instrumental in Bangladesh’s independence, the relationship between New Delhi and Dhaka has never been especially warm or free of squabbles, the report said.
Bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh:
It is important to note that the bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh have grown over time as a standard model of cooperation wherein amicable solutions of impending problems are found through negotiations and constructive dialogues.
In recent years, several deals have been reached between the countries in both the diplomatic and economic arenas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka gave a boost to the relationship between both countries. Notably, both the two countries are closely collaborating in every sector, from security and border management to mutually beneficial trade and investment flows, enhanced bilateral and sub-regional multimodal connectivity, greater power and energy cooperation, developmental assistance and capacity building exchanges, cultural and closer people-to-people ties, as per ANI report.
Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit assumes importance in the backdrop of turbulent months in recent times that have disrupted the green shoots of post-Covid-19 economic recovery in the South Asian Region.
Since the two countries have originated from an uninterrupted geographical, historical and cultural continuum, they have many shared resources and concerns. Rivers are one of the most notable shared resources between the two countries. The issue of water management and water sharing is very important in the bilateral cooperation agenda of Delhi and Dhaka as India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers. The two countries have identified seven of these rivers for developing the framework of water-sharing agreements on priority. The Bangladesh PM may seek assistance from India to fight its economic crisis and accelerate economic recovery. During the upcoming visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Bangladesh is likely to initiate talks for having an India-Bangladesh Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). It is also likely that the two premiers would discuss defence cooperation. The bilateral defence cooperation came into focus last month when the Indian Army Chief visited Bangladesh amid speculation that Indian weapons could further equip the military forces of Bangladesh.
