The Hindu : India, Bangladesh to activate all task forces: Sinha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 26, 2002

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India, Bangladesh to activate all task forces: Sinha

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA Aug. 25. The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, has said that India and Bangladesh have decided to reactivate all the committees and task forces, including the Joint Working Group, to give a boost to bilateral relations.

Mr. Sinha, who ended his two-day, first-ever Bangladesh visit today, said the JWG would meet in October next for removing customs impediments and facilitating greater trade flow.

Both sides had also agreed to develop communication infrastructure, including utilisation of the railways to facilitate trade. The Dhaka-Agartala bus service would be started soon.

The Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Morshed Khan, said India had agreed to withdraw tariff and non-tariff barriers to facilitate greater Bangladeshi export to its market to reduce trade imbalance.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, told Mr. Sinha during a meeting that her Government had taken all initiatives to strengthen relations with India and hoped that New Delhi would adopt a similar approach. Mr. Khan, who was present during the meeting, said Begum Zia wanted all the SAARC nations to ensure that the process was not halted.

Mr. Khan hoped that Mr. Sinha's visit would ``contribute positively'' towards cementing ties. Mr. Sinha said he had a ``very cordial meeting'' with Begum Zia who accepted an invitation from the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to visit India. She also invited Mr. Vajpayee to visit Bangladesh.

Mr. Sinha also called on the former Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Sheikh Hasina. He also met the acting President, Zamiruddin Sircar, and held discussions with the Bangladesh Finance Minister, Saifur Rahman.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary, Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, said at a briefing that Begum Zia had requested India to take steps to stop the killing of Bangladesh nationals along the border.

According to the Bangladesh Foreign Office, 47 of its nationals were allegedly killed by the BSF this year.

During official talks, Dhaka and New Delhi had earlier agreed that the BDR and the BSF would maintain maximum restraint.

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