India hopes to step up relations further with new government

The Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, Pranay Verma, has expressed hope for strengthened partnership and greater momentum in development cooperation between India and Bangladesh in the new term of the Awami League government.

He came up with the optimism following a courtesy call on newly appointed Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud at the foreign ministry in Dhaka on Monday.

Pranay Verma said, “I came here to pay a courtesy call on the new foreign minister. I have congratulated him, and also on behalf of our external affairs minister. There were discussions on various bilateral issues. We would work more closely to take our relationship forward.”

The Indian high commissioner further said their discussion evolved over the advancements and successes achieved in bilateral relationship during the last one decade. “Our bilateral relationship reached a close state in the last 10 years.”

He recognised the contribution of bilateral cooperation to the economic growth in the two neighbouring nations.

“Two sides have registered significant economic growth due to our cooperation. We have done many positive things in 2023 and implemented many large-scale projects, including fuel supply line, power project, commercial transactions in BDT and INR, and digital payment system,” he noted.

The Indian high commissioner also mentioned that a new chapter has been launched in the Bangladesh-India bilateral relationship, through the India-Bangladesh Startup.

“We have discussed the issues that we can consider in future. For instance, the climate issue… we can cooperate in the Bangladesh prime minister’s plan in building a smart Bangladesh by 2041,” he added.

Expressing India’s interest in working with the new government, he said, “We hope that our partnership will thrive under the new government, which would be conducive for the national interests of both sides. We have always been ready to cooperate with the people of Bangladesh.”