Indo-Pacific outlook tops Indo-Bangla FoC agenda

National elections will dominate the Indo-Bangladesh foreign secretary-level talks as both the countries are heading towards national polls.
On the sidelines of the Indo-Bangladesh foreign office consultation (FOC) meeting in Delhi, foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen will brief envoys of 90 countries about the preparations for the national polls scheduled to be held on January 07.
Commenting on the issue, the FS said he would have an interaction with the envoys of 90 countries in Delhi where he would brief them about the poll preparations of the government, and its commitment to hold a free and fair election.
The continuation of the policies in post-poll scenario, development, connectivity and the Indo-Pacific outlook would be high on the agenda, officials said.
As Bangladeshis launched its own Indo-Pacific outlook, discussions will be held about the scope of enhancing cooperation under the Indo-Pacific framework of the two countries.
However, responding to a question, he said that the upcoming FOC meeting, which would be held on Friday, had nothing to do with the political situation of the country.
Usually, the FOC meeting is held annually but this time it will be the second meeting in a year as the previous FOC between the two countries was held in February in Dhaka.
Asked whether he was carrying any special message from the Prime Minister to India, the FS said that such a notion was nothing but speculation.
Mr Masud said he would also apprise the foreign diplomats about the socio-economic development achieved by Bangladesh in various sectors.
"And since we are heading towards national polls, they may ask questions about it," he added.
About the Rohingya repatriation he said that the ongoing armed conflict between Myanmar military and the insurgents disrupted the efforts to conduct pilot repatriation of the displaced people.
But he hoped that it could be done in the current year, if situation in Rakhine improved.
He chaired a meeting of the task force on Rohingya in the foreign ministry on Wednesday.
"We have taken our preparations for the pilot repatriation so that we can do it in 15 days when the situation returns to normal," he said.
He also mentioned that the huge fall in donors' funding for the humanitarian assistance to Rohingya became a concern for the stakeholders.
Now it decreased to Tk 9 per day per person, he mentioned, noting that the situation in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine triggered the fall in funding for Rohingya.