NEW DELHI, Aug 20 - India on Thursday clarified that Bangladesh did not raise the contentious issues of Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) during the two-day visit of Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Dhaka.
Briefing newsmen here, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Anurag Srivastava said these issues were not raised by Bangladesh. He was replying to questions whether Dhaka had raised the issue of CAA, NRC and Teesta water sharing.
It was proposed that the next meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission at the Foreign Minister level should be convened shortly to review the entire gamut of bilateral relationship, including the projects. It was also proposed that a high level monitoring mechanism be set up to regularly review the progress of the ongoing projects, he said.
Srivastava said that there were discussions relating to the cooperation in the areas of security, including border fencing and joint efforts to prevent trans-border crimes. The issue of safe repatriation of internally displaced persons from the Rakhine state of Myanmar also came up for discussion.
Several Indo-Bangladesh projects, including the Rampal Maitree Power Plant, India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, and rail links between Akhaura and Agartala, Chilahati and Haldibari, and Khulna and Mongla are expected to be completed next year.
The MEA spokesman said India�s developmental assistance in Bangladesh as also the projects in the area of connectivity and power were also discussed during the Foreign Secretary�s two-day visit.
The discussions during also centred on the 100th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of Bangladesh liberation. India plans to issue a commemorative stamp on the Bangabandhu during the Mujib Barsho.
Srivastava said both sides also discussed the COVID-19 situation. India has provided COVID-related assistance to Bangladesh and is organising capacity building courses for Bangladesh medical personnel. India�s proposal to launch an air travel bubble between the two countries was also appreciated, he said.
