In a major development, India has agreed to omit the provisions of its investment and consular policies that discriminate Bangladeshis.
Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen disclosed this while talking with reporters on the outcome of the 6th Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting held on Tuesday.
The Indian side reiterated its commitment to ink the Teesta water-sharing agreement, but failed short of giving any specific timeframe.
At the meeting, held virtually, the Bangladesh side said some of the rules of the Indian investment policy were discriminatory against Bangladeshi investors.
"In response, India assured us that they would review those policies," the foreign minister of Bangladesh said.
Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar led his country's side.
"We raised the urgency of the implementation of the Teesta water-sharing deal, which was agreed upon by both countries. They have assured us that they are trying to sign the deal as soon as possible. But no specific timeframe is given for the implementation of the deal," the minister said.
The minister said both countries stressed the need for water sharing of six other common rivers.
"In this connection, we have urged the Indian side to hold the Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting. They have agreed to that too," Dr Momen noted.
However responding to a question, the minister said no timeframe was given for the JRC, the last one was held 11 years ago.
It also agreed to revise a visa-related rule under which Bangladeshi Muslim visitors have to pay fine for overstay at a rate 200 times than a Hindu visitor from Bangladesh would pay.
This issue will be sorted out during the bilateral consular meeting scheduled to be held in November this year, Mr Momen said.
The 'Master Direction on Foreign Investment in India, updated on March 08, 2019 says any investment by a person who is a citizen of Bangladesh or Pakistan or is an entity incorporated in Bangladesh or Pakistan requires prior government approval.
The same regulation says, " A person who is a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan can, only with the prior government approval, invest in sectors/ activities other than defence, space, atomic energy and sectors/ activities prohibited for foreign investment."
Briefing reporters about the outcome of the meeting, Dr Momen said both sides expressed satisfaction that even during the current extraordinary situation fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh and India have maintained "robust engagements."
Against the backdrop of the pandemic, both sides discussed collaboration in the health sector, especially in terms of supply, delivery, distribution and co-production of COVID-19 vaccine.
It was agreed that a virtual meeting at the Prime Ministers' level would be held in December 2020 between the two countries.
During the meeting, both the countries expressed concern over the killing of unarmed Bangladeshis on the border by the BSF.
Bangladesh side highlighted that the entire nation is deeply concerned about the rise in killings of Bangladeshi nationals by Indian border forces.
The Indian side agreed that the loss of civilian lives at the border is a matter of concern and both sides urged the border forces of the two countries to enhance coordinated measures to bring down border incidents to zero, said Dr Momen.
The two Ministers positively reviewed the possibilities of resumption of air connectivity during the ongoing pandemic through special air bubble arrangement with equal share of frequencies and routes by the carriers of the two countries.
The Bangladesh side requested the Indian side to reciprocally ease visa and land border restrictions for Bangladeshi nationals, particularly for medical patients and students enrolled in various educational institutions of India.
Bangladesh pointed out various non-tariff barriers and the lack of adequate trade facilitation are impeding flow of Bangladeshi products into India, particularly into the North East.
Bangladesh requested the Indian side to address the issues of accreditation, certification, standardisation, port restrictions and developing port infrastructure to boost exports of Bangladesh to India.
Dr Momen requested his Indian counterpart to look into the export of essential commodities, such as onions by India, since this has had an impact the domestic market of Bangladesh.
The Indian foreign minister said that he would take adequate steps in this regard, he said.
Both sides discussed the implementation of the development projects under Indian Lines of Credit in a timely manner. A high-level monitoring committee was agreed to be formed with Secretary ERD and Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh leading the committee on each side.
Enhancing cooperation on energy and power sector through facilitation of tripartite power-energy cooperation among Bangladesh-India-Nepal and Bangladesh-India-Bhutan was also discussed.
During the meeting, Bangladesh's foreign minister expressed the hope that as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, India would play a more meaningful role for a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis, including the early repatriation of refugees to Myanmar in a safe and sustainable manner.
After the talks, both ministers jointly unveiled two commemorative stamps as part of the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Both sides agreed to jointly celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Independence of Bangladesh and the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The two sides agreed to establish Bangabandhu-Bapu digital museums both in Bangladesh and India.
The Indian government would also release a commemorative stamp on the birth centenary of Bangabandhu on 16 December 2020 to pay their homage to the life and ideology of Bangabandhu.
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