External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Dhaka on Sunday for the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meeting with her Bangladesh counterpart Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali. The Rohingya issue, counter terrorism and border management will remain focus of the talks even as the two sides review the progress made on decisions taken during Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina's summit talks held this April.
Sushma will also jointly inaugurate nearly 15 projects that are being initiated with the help of line of Credit extended by India to Bangladesh. India has extended three lines of Credits to Bangladesh in the last seven years amounting to $8 billion. This makes Bangladesh the largest recipient of lOC funds from India till date.
This is the second visit by the minister to Dhaka since 2014. In fact, keeping in line with Modi's ‘Neighbourhood First' policy Bangladesh was the first country Swaraj travelled after assuming the office of External Affairs Minister in 2014. This was followed by Modi's visit to Dhaka in 2015. She recently met Hasina on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September. This is the fourth JCC meeting between India and Bangladesh. The last meeting was held in September 2014 but the subsequent year it was postponed due to Swaraj's illness.
Swaraj will reach Dhaka on Sunday by the Air Force special aircraft for the JCC meeting where she and Mahmood Ali will review the entire gamut of India-Bangladesh relations. Counter terrorism is a key area where the two countries are collaborating closely. The utilisation of the line of Credit that India has offered to Bangladesh, Teesta river water sharing, road-rail connectivity, investment are among the several things that will be on the table for discussions.
However, the burning issue of Rohingya refugees is expected to dominate the talks between the two sides. Though India was the first country to assist Bangladesh by providing humanitarian aid, Bangladesh wants India to play a more proactive role diplomatically to pursue Myanmar to take back its Rohingya refugees that have taken shelter in Bangladesh in large numbers.
India has serious security concerns over the exodus of Rohingya people from Myanmar who have taken refuge in Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries. The matter figured prominently during the meeting between Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mohammad Shahidul Haque with his Indian counterpart S Jaishanakar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval earlier this month.
The meeting between the two foreign ministers will also pave way for the next high level meeting between the two PMs next year. Foreign Secretary and the senior officials of important ministries pertaining to the JCC meeting will be accompanying Swaraj to Dhaka. Announcement with regard rail connectivity between the two countries is also expected following the meeting. While the Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express is expected to be faster, cutting the travel time nine hours to six. Besides, a new passenger train service between Kolkata and Khulna is expected to be launched.
Swaraj will call on Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina on Sunday and later she will be attending a dinner hosted by Mahmood Ali in her honour. Swaraj will also, through video conferencing, inaugurate nearly 15 projects that India is funding in Bangladesh.
On Monday Swaraj will inaugurate the India's Chancery Building in Dhaka which has been functional without formal inauguration. She will also have a meeting with Begum Rowshan Ershad, leader of Opposition in Bangladesh. Her meeting with former Bangladesh PM and leader of prominent Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Begum Khaleda Zia, is also being worked out.