7th Round of India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission: Looking forward to working in new areas of cooperation, says Jayashankar

Foreign Minister S Jayashankar on Sunday said India looks forward to working in new areas of cooperation with Bangladesh, including artificial intelligence, cyber security, start-ups and fintech.

“We are now looking forward to working with you to take our relationship to a new domain – artificial intelligence, cyber security, startups, fintech,” said Jayashankar, who had a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

The seventh round of the India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) was held in New Delhi on Sunday.

A joint statement said the two ministers expressed satisfaction that despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 epidemic, the two countries have worked closer together than ever before in every area, from security and border management to mutually beneficial trade and investment flows. And sub-regional multimodal connectivity, greater energy and power cooperation, development assistance and capacity building exchanges, cultural and intimate people-to-people contacts.

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“The two ministers agreed to work together to deepen and strengthen cooperation in common river and water resource management, information technology and cyber security, renewable energy, agriculture and food security, sustainable trade, climate change and disaster management.” Says

It added that both ministers appreciated the high-level visit as well as the close involvement through various bilateral processes and agreed to further enhance the partnership-building efforts with renewal and regularity. In this regard, the two ministers tasked their officials to expedite cooperation, pay more attention to resolving issues and find sustainable solutions for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries, the statement said.

Regarding the Rohingya, it was said, “Both sides reiterated the importance of the safe, speedy and sustainable return of the forcibly displaced persons from Rakhine State to Myanmar, who are currently seeking asylum in Bangladesh.”

On the border situation, Jayashankar said, “Improved management of our long border is also a top priority. Our Border Guard Force is committed to suppressing cross-border crime. We must continue to work together to ensure that the border is crime-free. ”

And, in the context of river sharing, he said, “And of course, we share 54 rivers. Extensive management of our rivers and their conservation, as well as our environmental responsibility, especially the Sundarbans. These are really areas where we need to work together as part of our commitment to climate action. “

“We also want to show our support and solidarity in the unprecedented floods that have hit northern Bangladesh. We’ve got it in the Northeast as well. We are now sharing flood management information for an extended period of time. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that if in any specific way, we can assist you in conducting flood and relief activities, we would be very happy to assist. It will be in line with our relationship, ”Jayashankar said.

Foreign Minister Momen will meet Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday. India-Bangladesh has agreed to hold the eighth round of JCC in Bangladesh in 2023.

This is the first private JCC meeting since the Covid-19 epidemic began, the previous version of which was actually held in 2020.