Bangladesh seeks continuous Indian support on Rohingya issue
Expressing happiness at the India’s support to Bangladesh during Rohingya crisis, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on Wednesday requested the Indian government to continue it. Foreign Minister Ali and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj also expressed their strong resolve to continue the strong bilateral engagements between the two countries. This was reiterated while the two ministers met in New Delhi on the sidelines of 3rd Raisina Dialogue, according to Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi. In reply, Sushma Swaraj said, “Support is ensured”. She also reiterated India’s commitment to support the rehabilitation programme to ensure sustainable repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Rakhine state. Foreign Minister of Bangladesh briefed her counterpart on the ‘Arrangement’ signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar for Repatriation of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar National to Rakhine State. Indian Minister also briefed her counterpart about Indian engagement in Northern Rakhine state including construction of pre-fabricated houses for the returnees. Both the Ministers discussed the modalities and physical arrangements for early repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. The Indian Minister appreciated the Government of Bangladeshin managing the Rohingya crisis by saying that it demonstrated ‘Very matured public responses.’ The Foreign Minister is visiting India to attend the 3rdRaisina Dialogue where he is expected to make the Ministerial keynote speech at the concluding session on Thursday evening. During the meeting, they discussed all the aspects of bilateral relations and took a quick stock of the progress following the 4th Joint Consultative Council (JCC) meeting held in Dhaka in October last year. Indian External Affairs Minister informed Bangladesh Foreign Minister that both sides have agreed on a list of 14 projects under the third Line of Credit (LoC) which was announced during the visit Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in April 2017. Both of them further observed that people to people contact is the fundamental aspect to any bilateral relations, and noted that visits by various strata of people from both countries are on the rise. Syed Muazzem Ali, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India accompanied the Foreign Minister during the meeting. .
