Bangladesh and India on Thursday discussed Covid and vaccination situation in both the countries.

The two sides also discussed the issue of repatriation of the Rohingyas temporarily staying in Bangladesh as well as the cooperation of both countries in various international fora.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen had a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the International Conference on “Central and South Asia: Regional connectivity - Challenges and opportunities” inTashkent, Uzbekistan and discussed the issues.

Dr Momen and the Indian External Affairs Minister discussed a range of issues including the bilateral and regional connectivity, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here.

Dr Jaishankar expressed his happiness as the supply of vaccine doses to Bangladesh is back on track again from diversified external sources including under COVAX arrangement.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the partnership and expanding multifaceted cooperation.

They also emphasized the need for resuming the activities of various joint mechanisms soon after the Covid scenario in both countries improves.

"Happy to meet with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on the sidelines of the Tashkent Connectivity Conference. A good opportunity to review the progress in our ties, including its connectivity aspects," Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting.

Dr Momen is visiting Tashkent, Uzbekistan to attend an international conference titled “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity - Challenges and Opportunities” that began on Thursday.

The Foreign Minister will return home on Monday (July 19) morning.

The conference is being attended by the President of Uzbekistan, the President of Afghanistan, foreign ministers and high-profile representatives of the central and south Asian countries, other foreign states, heads of authoritative international and regional organizations, global financial institutions and companies, leading research and analytical centres.

The high-level international conference is intended to form a political and expert platform for multilateral discussion of the mutually beneficial strategic model - Central Asia - South Asia -in transport and logistics, energy, trade, industry, investment, technological, cultural and humanitarian domains.

On July 16, the conference will start by the plenary session on Central and South Asia: Regional connectivity. During the meeting, Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres and the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as the heads of state and government, and ministers of foreign affairs and international financial organizations will deliver their speeches.

The session will also consider the state of affairs and prospects of interregional cooperation in Central and South Asia, successful examples of cooperation, promising interconnected infrastructure projects.