January 29, 2021
FOC was held between India and Bangladesh to analyse the progress achieved in their bilateral relationship.
Chaired by Foreign Secretary Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India & Foreign Secretary Ambassador Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh.
The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Bangladesh and the 50th year of bilateral diplomatic ties.
Bilateral trade with Bangladesh stood at US$ 9.46 bn in FY20, with an export value of US$ 8.2 bn and import of US$ 1.3b
On 29th January 2021, India and Bangladesh held their 2nd Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) to assiduously analyse the progress achieved in the bilateral relationship between the two nations. Chaired by Foreign Secretary Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla from the Indian side and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Masud Bin Momen from the Bangladesh side, it was also attended by the Bangladesh High Commissioner H.E. Mr Mohammad Imran, Secretary (East) Ambassador Mashfee Shams and representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Water Resources of Bangladesh along with representatives from the Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs, Commerce and Industry, Jal Shakti and Finance, India.
The discussion during the FOC essentially revolved around the progress achieved in the bilateral relationship, including in the areas of Covid-19 cooperation including India’s gift of 2 million doses of COVISHIELD vaccines to Bangladesh in keeping with India’s Neighbourhood First Policy, trade, connectivity, development partnership, power, energy & water resources, regional and multilateral cooperation as well as border management and security & defence cooperation. Renewal of the Air Travel Bubble was arranged to facilitate essential travel between the two sides and swift implementation of the Lines of Credit in the bilateral development partnership was also discussed. The two sides had wide-ranging discussions on mechanisms to strengthen coordination and cooperation on Consular issues. These included finalisation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for consular access, verification of nationality and release of detainees.
Bangladesh is one of the key pillars of India’s Neighbourhood First Policy. The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Bangladesh, the 50th year of bilateral diplomatic ties which was celebrated by the participation of the Bangladesh tri-service marching contingent at the 2021 Indian Republic Day Parade. Both countries have comprehensive cooperation through more than 60 bilateral mechanisms. Celebrating their 50 years of bilateral diplomatic relations, both India and Bangladesh agreed to further strengthen these ties and promote greater people-to-people exchanges, with a plan to arrange the next Consular Dialogue in Dhaka.