Visiting Dhaka to strengthen relations: Jaishankar

Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said the regular communications and the relations between Bangladesh and India have advanced even amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jaishankar said he is visiting Dhaka in a bid to develop the relations between two countries along with intensifying the bilateral cooperation.

The Indian foreign minister called on his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen on Thursday evening at Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka. Following the meeting, Jaishankar briefed the journalists.

"It is always a pleasure to visit Bangladesh. I have come to Dhaka again after a little over a year. The most important thing is that we were involved in the regular discussion even during the pandemic. Our bilateral ties have been strengthened," he said.

The Indian prime minister and the president visited Bangladesh last year for the first time in history.

Terming these visits as a milestone, S Jaishankar said, "Fifty years of anniversary of our diplomatic relations and the golden jubilee of Bangladesh are coincidentally the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu."

He claimed the regular, unofficial and sincere discussions as neighbours are the reflection of trustworthy ties between two countries.

"There is communication between our leaders. I called on prime minister Sheikh Hasina today, Thursday, evening and conveyed prime minister Shri Narendra Modi's invitation to her to visit India at her convenience later this year,"

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen said, “The golden chapter in relations between two countries is prevailing. Bangladesh and India made history last year on the fifty years of anniversary of our independence. The way two countries have worked together is unprecedented in history. We have solved the major problems."