Neighborhood First: Foreign Secretary Kwatra to visit Bangladesh, review bilateral ties

Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra will pay an official visit to Bangladesh on February 15-16 at the invitation of the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Masud Bin Momen, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday. ​During the visit, both Foreign Secretaries will review the entire range of bilateral relationship including political and security, water, trade and investment, power and energy, defence, connectivity and sub-regional cooperation, the MEA said. The visit to Bangladesh is in line with the highest priority accorded to India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ Policy. Foreign Secretary Kwatra's upcoming visit will further strengthen bilateral ties and impart momentum to ongoing cooperation in diverse areas, the MEA added. Foreign Secretary Kwatra is currently on an official visit to Nepal. It is worth noting that Bangladesh is India’s top-most development partner and its largest trade partner in the region. India has also invited Bangladesh as a guest country during its ongoing G20 presidency. Development Projects in Bangladesh Recent months have seen the initiation or completion of a number of connectivity and infrastructure projects in Bangladesh with assistance from India. * On February 9, 2023, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated the stretch between Joydebpur-Tongi as part of the Dhaka-Tongi-Joydebpur rail line project. The project has been funded under an Indian concessional Line of Credit (LoC) to Bangladesh. * In December 2022, India inked a contract for Project Management Consultancy (PMC) services with Bangladesh for upgrading the Mongla port. The project is being funded by India's USD 4.5 billion concessional Line of Credit (LOC) granted to Bangladesh. The agreement was signed by the Mongla Port Authority (MPA) and EGIS India Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd. * In September 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina jointly unveiled Unit-I of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project during the latter's visit to India. Being constructed under India’s concessional financing scheme, the Project will add 1320 MW to Bangladesh’s National Grid. * They also jointly inaugurated the 5.13 km Rupsha rail bridge, which is a key part of the 64.7 km Khulna-Mongla Port broad gauge rail project. * In August 2022, India and Bangladesh had signed a contract for consulting services related to the construction of a double line rail track between Khulna-Darshana Junction Section and conversion of meter gauge line to dual gauge line in Parbatipur-Kaunia Section of the Bangladesh Railway.