• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in New Delhi and held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• The two sides also signed seven agreements covering diverse areas such as railways, space technology, water sharing and connectivity.

• India and Bangladesh signed an interim water sharing agreement for Kushiyara river, the first such pact since the signing of the Ganges Water Treaty in 1996. The pact that will benefit people residing in southern Assam and the Sylhet division of Bangladesh.

• PM Modi said there were 54 rivers that pass through the Indo-Bangladesh border, and have been linked to the livelihood of the people of the two countries for centuries.

• PM Hasina flagged concerns over the delay in clinching the Teesta water sharing agreement.

• Modi said India and Bangladesh will soon start discussion on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

• Bangladesh is now India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia and the bilateral trade has grown from $9 billion to $18 billion in the last five years. It has also become the fourth largest export destination for India with the exports registering a growth of over 66 per cent from $9.69 billion in 2020-21 to $16.15 billion in 2021-22.

• Bangladesh is an important partner for India under its “Neighbourhood First” policy and the cooperation extends to areas of security, trade, commerce, energy, connectivity, science and technology, defence and maritime affairs, among others.

List of agreements/MoUs exchanged:

• MoU on withdrawal of water by India and Bangladesh from common border river Kushiyara.

• MoU on training of Bangladesh Railway personnel in India.

• MoU on collaboration in IT systems such as FOIS and other IT applications for Bangladesh Railway.

• MoU on training and capacity building programme for Bangladesh judicial officers in India.

• MoU on scientific and technological cooperation between Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India and Bangladesh Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh.

• MoU on cooperation in the areas of space technology.

• MoU between Prasar Bharti and Bangladesh Television (BTV) on cooperation in broadcasting.

List of projects inaugurated/announced:

Unveiling of Unit I of Maitree power plant: The 1320 (660x2) MW supercritical coal-fired thermal power plant at Rampal, Khulna is being set up at an estimated cost of approximately $2 billion with $1.6 billion as Indian Development Assistance under Concessional Financing Scheme.

Inauguration of Rupsha bridge: The 5.13 km Rupsha rail bridge is a key part of the 64.7 km Khulna-Mongla Port single track broad gauge rail project, connecting for the first time Mongla Port with Khulna by rail, and thereafter to Central and North Bangladesh and also to the India border at Petrapole and Gede in West Bengal.

Supply of road construction equipment and machinery: The project consists of supply of road maintenance and construction equipment and machinery in 25 packages to Bangladesh Road and Highways Department.

Khulna Darshana railway line link project: The project is upgradation of existing (doubling of Broad Gauge) infrastructure linking the current cross border rail link at Gede-Darshana to Khulna thereby augmenting the rail connections between the two countries, especially to Dhaka, but also in future to Mongla Port. The project cost is estimated at $312.48 million.

Parbatipur-Kaunia railway line: The conversion of the existing Metre Gauge line to Dual Gauge line project is estimated at $120.41 million. The project will connect to the existing cross border rail at Birol (Bangladesh)-Radhikapur (West Bengal) and will enhance bilateral rail connectivity.

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