"The Indian Foreign Secretary is likely to visit Dhaka either November-end or in the first week of December. We are working out the exact dates, keeping in view the convenience of both sides," Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes told mediapersons here on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Rim Association conference.
Quayes met Mathai on the margins of the conference and discussed bilateral issues with particular focus on pending issues.
While Quayes declined to specify the issues but it is expected the two sides will try to move forward on Teesta river water-sharing deal, which was scuppered during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September last year due to reservations by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary said, "There is a convergence of views on both sides that a solution to pending issues should be fast-tracked.
"There is no deficit of commitment on either side and work is in progress to resolve the pending issues. However, both sides should also be seen to be making some tangible and visible progress."
Noting that Mathai was "keen that some tangible progress is made during his visit to Dhaka", Quayes said it is necessary for both Bangladesh and India to "fast track implementation of the decisions" taken during prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Manmohan Singh's visits to New Delhi in January 2010 and to Dhaka in September 2011.
Quayes said Bangladesh has proposed certain dates for the second edition of the Foreign Minister-level India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission meeting to be held in Dhaka and is awaiting a response. The first meeting of the Commission was held in New Delhi in June.
The proposed Bangladesh Deputy High Commission would soon be opened in Mumbai, Quayes said.
He said toning up the infrastructure relating to border trade between the two countries came up and movement of people across northern part of Bangladesh and West Bengal state came up for his discussion with Mathai.
