Staff correspondent :

Leader of Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Indian Parliament, Piyush Goyal today stressed on political stability in Bangladesh for its continued development as visiting Bangladesh Awami League delegation held a meeting with him at his parliament office here.

Goyal, an influential BJP leader and Commerce Minister, said political stability is imperative for the sake of peace, progress and prosperity of Bangladesh.

Lauding Bangladesh’s enormous progress in socio-economic sector during the present government regime, the Indian minister expressed the hope that Bangladesh will make further progress through political stability.

During the meeting, they discussed different socio, political and developmental issues alongside with trade and business between the two countries, according to meeting sources.

Referring to Indian ban on export of foodgrains, Goyal informed the delegation that India will actively consider the issue so that Bangladesh is not affected by the India’s ban on export of foodgrains.

He requested the delegation members to suggest names of more products so that India can import from Bangladesh to help reduce bilateral trade gap. In this connection, the Bangladesh side also discussed about the ban of export of perishable items.

The Indian Union minister told the delegation that as a close neighbour and friend of Bangladesh, India always considers all issues of Bangladesh when it comes in Indian’s cognizance.

AL Presidium member and Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque, MP, led the delegation in the meeting attended by AL Joint General Secretary and Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hassan Mahmud, MP.

Others members of the delegation AL Organising Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, Aroma Dutta ,MP, and Prof. Marina Jahan ,MP, were present.

The five member Bangladesh Awami League delegation has been visiting in New Delhi with the invitation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of its “Know BJP” programme.

Emerging from the meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud told BSS that apart from issues relating to trade and business, Bangladesh’s political issue was come up in the discussion held in a “cordial atmosphere”.

The AL delegation also held a meeting with Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency in 2023 and former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla at his office here this evening.

During the meeting, Shringla mentioned that India does not want to see the rise of reactionary forces in Bangladesh for the sake of regional peace and stability.

He said India considers Bangladesh as the close neighbour and friend as the main objective of India’s foreign policy is “Neighbourhood First”.

Mentioning political stability is key to progress of a country, he said the political stability, which is prevailing in Bangladesh under the present government regime was not seen in the past in the country.

Shringla said Indian invitation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend the upcoming G20 summit to be held under India’s Presidency is reflected India’s relation with Bangladesh.

He said the two governments are working relentlessly to keep continue the excellent bilateral relations prevailing between the two countries.

Earlier, the Bangladesh delegation visited the National War Memorial at India Gate Circle here. The memorial was built to honour and remember soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces who fought in armed conflicts of independent India.

Besides, the Awami League delegation held a meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister and Rajya Sabha Member Dr S. Jaishankar at his parliament office on Monday.

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