Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that for the continuation of regional development, Bangladesh and India are working together.
She also said that the people of both Bangladesh and India will be benefited from the cooperation in all the areas identified and the decisions taken to solve the existing bilateral problems during her visit to India.
The Prime Minister further conveyed a message to the people of Bangladesh as saying that on the issue of Bangladesh, all the political parties in India are united.
“I think that my visit, after a long break of three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has opened a new horizon in Bangladesh-India relations. All aspects of Bangladesh-India relations were discussed during my visit,” said the Prime Minister in her written speech ahead of the question-answer session at her post-India visit press conference.
Sheikh Hasina said both the counties highlighted sincerity and pledge to continue cooperation between the two countries on the basis of equality and respect as good neighbours.
She said Teesta water sharing, cessation of border killings, trade expansion, withdrawal of anti-dumping duty on Bangladesh jute products, repatriation of the Rohingyas, import of electricity from Nepal and Bhutan via India, were discussed.
“After all, in the changed world situation, this visit would accelerate both the countries to move forward together in a new way. I firmly believe that this cooperation will continue for the welfare of the people of both countries and the South Asia, including Bangladesh and India, will become a prosperous region soon,” added the Prime Minister.
She said the people of both countries will be benefited from the cooperation in all the areas identified during this visit and the decisions taken to solve the existing problems.
Sheikh Hasina said as per the MoUs signed between Bangladesh and India, Bangladesh will receive 153 cusecs of water under the Surma-Kushiara project from the common river Kushiara and as a result, 5,000 hectares of land will get irrigation facilities through Rahimpur Link Canal.
Apart from this, the premier said, an agreement has been made on cooperation in the fields of environment, climate change, cyber security, space technology, green economy, cultural and people-to-people communication, she added.
“We agreed to complete the construction work of the second gate proposed by India at the Petrapol- Benapole border as soon as possible to expand trade. A delegation from Bangladesh will soon visit India to participate in the start-up fair,” she added.
In this context, she said some more MoUs are under discussion in the IT sector, which we expect to be finalized soon. If these MoUs are signed, I think Bangladesh will march forward another step towards achieving "Digital Bangladesh".
Prime Minister highlighted some information about the energy cooperation between India and Bangladesh and said that fuel (diesel) from Numaligarh Refinery Limited located in Siliguri, India, to Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh will be imported through a pipeline. A MoU was signed between Bangladesh and India on April 9, 2018 under the "India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Construction Project", she added.
“Under this project, a total of 131.57 km (126.57 km in the Bangladesh part and 5 km in the Indian part) pipeline is being constructed with the finance of the Government of India. Out of the 126.50 km of pipelines in the Bangladesh part, 125 km pipeline has been completed,” she said, adding that due to construction of the pipeline, fuel transportation cost will be saved and diesel could be imported from India easily, quickly and in adverse conditions to meet the needs of northern parts of the country;
She said at present, 60,000-80,000 metric tonnes of diesel is imported from India annually through Railway Wagon and once the construction of the pipeline is completed, it will be possible to import about 10 lakh metric tonnes of diesel from India annually.
Currently, the storage capacity in Parbatipur is 15,000 metric tonnes and under the ongoing project, the storage capacity will increase by 28,800 metric tonnes, she said, adding that on August 28, 2022 India's state-owned company has been enlisted as a supplier of fuel oil on G-to-G basis with an aim to diversify the import source of fuel.
About LNG import, the premier said considering the huge gas demand in the South-Western part of the country, particularly in Khulna area, the government is considering importing Regasified LNG (RLNG) from India to Bangladesh through a cross-border pipeline and to this end, against the proposals of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and H-Energy, Patrobangla signed respective Non-binding MoU with both the agencies.
At present, works continue to prepare Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) on RLNG import to be signed between Patrobangla and both the institutions.
Offshore gas exploration she said for shallow sea blocks SS-04 and SS-09, Patrobangla has two Production Supply Contracts (PSC) with ONGC Videsh Limited I Oil India Limited and under those, two exploratory wells are being drilled in both the blocks (Titli-1 and Maitri-1).
“India is our closest neighbour and friendly country. Our relationship with India is historic. Our relations have been deepened due to similarities of language and culture. Apart from this, the support during the Liberation War and cooperation after the independence have reached this friendship at a special level,” the Prime Minister Concluded.
Moreover, Prime Minister also answered to various questions of the journalists remained present at the press conference.
During the question-answer session, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her hope as saying that the people of the country will definitely vote for Awami League in the next general election for continuation of the present development spree.
“I firmly believe that people will definitely vote for Awami League if they want the ongoing development trend to continue. And if they don’t want, there is nothing to do. It is their wish”, said Sheikh Hasina.
She said there is nothing wrong with the formation of new political alliances as her party wants participation of all parties in the next general election.
“We want all to participate in the election. If anyone doesn’t join, it is up to the decision of the respective (political) party. But we can’t halt the constitutional process. The democratic trend in line with the Constitution will continue,” she said.
