Dhaka: India and Bangladesh have signed two MoUs today which includes the project to construct a 129.5 km long oil pipeline between Siliguri and Parbatipur. Both the countries also discussed the Teesta water sharing issue and the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Bilateral cooperation and mutual interest issues were the areas discussed by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and his Bangladeshi counterpart Md Shahidul Haque, the Indian High Commission said in a statement.
“Both sides expressed appreciation for the notable progress achieved in the implementation of the decisions and initiatives taken during the visits of the Prime Minister of India to Bangladesh in June 2015 and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to India in April 2017,” it read.
A total of six MoUs were signed which included India-Bangladesh Friendship pipeline between Siliguri and Parbatipur along with an agreement between department of atomic energy, India and Bangladesh atmic energy commission.
“This is part of our endeavour to undertake projects in Bangladesh in various socio-economic sectors, including education, culture, health, community welfare, road infrastructure etc, for which we are providing 1,600 crore taka under grant financing,” Foreign Secretary Gokhale said.
The MoU signed for oil pipeline is facilitate pumping diesel from India to Bangladesh with a capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum.
“The MoU focuses on deepening bilateral cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector and the mutual benefits for both sides that would accrue from the proposed construction of approximate 129.5-km long oil pipeline from the Siliguri Marketing Terminal of the Numaligarah Refinery Ltd (NRL) in India to the Parbaripur depot of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC),” the brief description of the MoU read.
The other MoUs are related to cooperation between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh Betar, installation of an Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Urdu Chair in Dhaka University, Addendum to the GCNEP-BAEC Interagency Agreement, grant projects to set up language labs in 500 schools in Bangladesh and upgrade different roads in Rangpur city.
In addition to these, an addendum was signed which is regarding to Inter-Agency agreement between Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership or GCNEP of India’s atomic energy department and Bangladesh’s atomic energy commission.
Mr Gokhale asserted that India remains a “committed development partner” of Bangladesh and has already extended lines of credit of over USD 8 billion to Bangladesh in the past seven years.
India also played a vital role in supporting Bangladesh’s efforts to resolve the Rohingya refugee crisis, which includes the early repatriation of the displaced people to Myanmar.
“India has been fully supportive of the efforts being made to resolve the crisis, including early repatriation of the displaced people,” Mr Gokhale said in a statement after his meeting with Haque on the second day of his three-day visit.
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