BD-India JRC by Dec, air bubble by Oct

FE REPORT | Published: October 13, 2020 23:32:24

After a gap of 11 years, the Joint River Commission (JRC) between Bangladesh and India will sit by this December.
This was disclosed by Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Tuesday.
Talking to the newsmen after his meeting with the new Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami at the foreign ministry in the capital, the foreign secretary said both the sides felt the necessity of holding the JRC meeting.
Before holding the ministerial JRC meet, there will be several rounds of meetings at different levels. The secretary-level meeting will be held in Delhi soon.
Mr Masud further said not only the Teesta, but water sharing of all the common rivers will also come up in the upcoming JRC.
If there is problem with one river, it should not hinder the process of focusing on the other rivers that are less problematic, he noted.
The foreign secretary also said the air bubble between the two countries will be introduced by this month.
Under this special air travel arrangement, patients from Bangladesh can visit India by air to have their medical treatment.
"Initially there were some complexities, as India did not want to allow more than one attendants for each patient. We have requested them for allowing two attendants. Now they have agreed to allow three attendants," the foreign secretary added.
The Indian High Commissioner said India is eager to resolve all the minor irritants, which are affecting the friendly relations between the two countries.
On onion ban, he said although supply constraint compelled India to take the move, the government allowed onion export to Bangladesh in a limited scale last weekend.
Mr Doraiswami said Bangladesh became the second country in Asia that has exports to India worth over one billion US dollar.
The envoy expressed his government's firm commitment to resolve the pending issues to further strengthen the very special ties with Bangladesh.
mirostafiz@yahoo.com