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Jaishankar meets Hasina, hands over letter from Modi

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IANS Dhaka
Last Updated : Mar 02 2015 | 10:22 PM IST

Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Monday met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and handed over a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his willingness to visit Bangladesh and inviting her to visit India.

Jaishankar handed over the letter to Hasina at her Sangsad Bhaban office in the evening when he paid a courtesy call on her.

Hasina's Press Secretary A.K.M. Shameem Chowdhuri, briefing reporters after the meeting, said that Modi in his letter stated that he is eagerly waiting to visit Bangladesh, the Daily Star reported.

"Modi, in the letter, has also reiterated his invitation to Sheikh Hasina for visiting India," Shameem Chowdhuri said.

In her reply, Hasina said she is keenly waiting to welcome the Indian prime minister.

Jaishankar informed Hasina that New Delhi is going to sign two deals -- protocol on trade and agreement on coastal shipping -- with Dhaka for boosting trade and commerce between the two countries, the report added.

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Jaishankar, who arrived earlier in the day from Bhutan as part of the Saarc Yatra, held talks with the Bangladeshi leadership on trade, energy and connectivity issues.

He earlier met Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali.

"We want more cooperation. We had very successful and constructive meeting," Jaishankar told reporters after the meeting at the foreign ministry.

Jaishankar, after holding foreign secretary-level talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Shahidul Haque, told reporters that the discussions focused on the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) and other bilateral issues.

"We discussed Saarc, Bimstec and similar bilateral issues. We had a very good discussion," Jaishankar was quoted as telling reporters after his 45-minute meeting with Shahidul at the foreign ministry.

Discussions in Dhaka are also believed to have focused on the sub-regional level cooperation involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN).

Asked if the Teesta water sharing agreement had figured in the talks, the Indian foreign secretary declined to answer.

Jaishankar's visit comes as India has inched closer to ink the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) for swapping enclaves within each other's territory.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Haque said that his country sees "a major change" in India's foreign policy with New Delhi now focused on resolving bilateral problems with its neighbours "quickly".

"One thing that became clear is that they want to solve problems. They want to strengthen relations with regional countries and solve problems, if any, quickly," he said.

"We see it as a major change in Indian foreign policy," Haque added.

He said they discussed a whole range of bilateral, sub-regional, regional and international issues during the short meeting.

Earlier, Jaishankar was received at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here by Haque and Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran.

Jaishankar, here on a 24-hour working visit, is set to travel to Islamabad on Tuesday and Kabul the following day.

India as part of the sub-regional BBIN grouping is pushing ahead with connectivity projects concerning power and transport.

The visit to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) neighbours is part of India's emphasis on neighbourhood outreach.

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First Published: Mar 02 2015 | 10:14 PM IST

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