United News of Bangladesh

Dr Salimullah Khan, a writer and teacher, said on Saturday that India is spreading propaganda against us about the oppression of minorities, which you can see by looking at India, whereas Hasina has enslaved this neighboring country to India. He made the remarks while addressing a seminar titled, "Initiative for the Promotion of Liberal Democracy” organised at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital. “India is projecting its own diagnosis onto us. The kinds of incidents they are accusing us of are far more prevalent in West Bengal. They claim Muslims constitute 20 to 25 percent of the population there, but you won’t find even five per cent Muslims in the police force or in government jobs. This is structural violence,” Dr Salimullah said. Criticising the opposition BNP, Salimullah Khan said the party has failed to make any meaningful progress over the last 17 years. ‘March for Gaza’ in Dhaka today in protest against Israeli atrocities "Even Mirza Abbas himself admitted to fleeing in fear for his life. They claim they couldn’t protest due to fear. But others who sacrificed their lives did so for a cause that isn't even on the BNP's agenda today," he said. Referring to Bangladesh’s dependency on foreign assistance, he said, “I’ve heard that China plans to build hospitals here. You’ll receive treatment, but to do so, you'll have to detach yourselves from the Commonwealth.” Salimullah Khan also raised concerns about the state of education in Bangladesh and how it relates to democracy. “How can you have democracy without education?” he questioned. He also lamented the declining status of Bangla-medium schools in the country, which he claimed are being downgraded to second- or third-tier institutions. “The best schools are English-medium ones… all cadet colleges teach in English. Meanwhile, madrasas are criticised for teaching in Urdu. Why not promote Bangla in both systems instead?”

India has laid emphasis on resolving all issues in Bangladesh through democratic means and by holding “inclusive and participatory” elections. At a media briefing in New Delhi on Friday, official spokesperson at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said they support a “stable, peaceful, inclusive and progressive” Bangladesh in which all issues are resolved through democratic means and by holding “inclusive and participatory” elections. He expressed concerns over "deteriorating law and order situation" in Bangladesh which has been further exacerbated by the release of violent extremists who were sentenced for serious crimes. Toby Cadman asks Bangladesh to refer July massacres case to ICC, change ICT’s name Officials of Bangladesh and India held the 86th meeting of the Joint River Commission in Kolkata where they discussed the pros and cons of renewing the 30-year-old Ganges water-sharing treaty which comes up for renewal next year. Spokesperson Jaiswal said the two sides discussed technical issues pertaining to the Ganga Water Treaty, measurement of water flows and other issues of mutual interest. On violence against minorities, including Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, the MEA Spokesperson said they expect Bangladesh to thoroughly investigate and bring all perpetrators of killings, arson and violence to justice without making such distinctions.

A meeting between Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain and his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar is underway in Muscat, Oman on the sidelines of the 8th  Indian Ocean Conference. The Foreign Affairs Adviser on Sunday joined the Indian Ocean Conference in Muscat and shared stage with India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar along with Foreign Ministers of the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Oman, Iran and others. "There is a possibility.....we expect that the meeting will be held," Spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Rafiqul Alam told reporters at the weekly briefing recently. Earlier, Foreign Adviser Hossain reached Muscat from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Foreign Adviser Hossain likely to meet Indian EAM Jaishankar at Indian Ocean Conf in Oman If a bilateral meeting on the sidelines is held, this would be their second meeting since the formation of the interim government led by Prof Muhammad Yunus in August last year. Adviser Hossain and Minister Jaishankar had their first meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September last year. The 8th Indian Ocean Conference is being organised by India Foundation in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman. The theme of the Indian Ocean Conference this year is "Voyages to New Horizons of Maritime Partnership." The Indian Ocean Conference was started by India Foundation in 2016 in Singapore, with participation from 30 countries.

State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Farooque on Friday said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on interim water sharing of Kushiyara river will be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India scheduled for September first week. He said the agreed draft of the MoU has been sent to the Indian Cabinet to complete the procedures before the signing. “We firmly believe that the MoU will be signed when our Prime Minister will be visiting India,” the State Minister told reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after returning from New Delhi. He led the Bangladesh delegation at the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday. The JRC meeting was held after a pause of 12 years. Zahid informed that India has agreed to provide 153 cusec water of Kushiyara river to Bangladesh. Responding to a question, the State Minister said the agreement on the Teesta water sharing remained prepared but its signing is getting delayed due to the objection of the Chief Minister of West Bengal. “We kept them under pressure. We firmly believe that we will soon see a solution to that end,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s repeated call for concluding the long-pending Teesta water sharing deal. At the 38th ministerial level JRC meeting, the two countries discussed “issues related to water-sharing treaties” of various rivers, including Teesta and Ganga. Both sides at the meeting also welcomed finalization of the design and location of water intake point on the Feni River to meet the drinking water needs of Sabroom town in Tripura as per the October 2019 Bangladesh-India MoU on this subject. One of the important areas of cooperation, where India has been assisting Bangladesh, is sharing of real time flood data.  India has recently extended the period of flood data sharing beyond 15 October to help Bangladesh address unforeseen flood events. Read: Dhaka, Delhi finalise text of MoU on interim water sharing of Kushiyara river Bangladesh and India share 54 rivers, of which seven rivers have been identified earlier for developing the framework of water sharing agreements on priority.  During the meeting, it has been agreed to widen this area of ongoing cooperation by including eight more rivers for data exchange.  The matter will be further discussed at the technical level committee of JRC. The discussions during the JRC meeting were held on a number of ongoing bilateral issues of mutual interest including river water sharing of common rivers, sharing of flood data, addressing river pollution, conducting joint studies on sedimentation management, river bank protection works etc. The JRC meeting was preceded by water resources secretary-level interaction on Tuesday. The Joint Rivers Commission of Bangladesh and India was constituted in 1972 as a bilateral mechanism to address issues of mutual interest on common transboundary rivers.

Speakers at a dialogue have called on Bangladesh and India to boost cooperation in protecting and promoting the ecosystem services of the Meghna River basin for the benefit of 50 million people living in the region shared by the two countries. The two neighbours should work together to the make the basin as one the most vibrant regions of South Asia, Planning Minister Abdul Mannan said. "There is no alternative to cooperation and working together," he said while addressing the first ever knowledge forum on the Meghna River basin, the minister said, according to a release from International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Saturday. It is estimated that more than 50 million people in Bangladesh and India depend on the ecosystem services provided by the basin, including indigenous forest dependent communities such as the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia; and the fishermen and farmers depending on the extensive wetlands (Haors) of Sylhet region in Bangladesh.    R. R. Sambharia, representing India’s Ministry of Jal Shakti and Senior Joint Commissioner, Ground Water and Flood Management, advised the IUCN to share the result of the forum with the Joint River Commission (JRC) of Bangladesh and India, and its dissemination to the relevant government departments at the state level.   To maintain the momentum created through the Meghna Knowledge Forum (MKF) 2021 and to attract international donor agencies to the Meghna River basin, IUCN will disseminate the forum outcomes at the bilateral and global platforms, such as IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille France planned in September 2021.     Read: Integrated policy approach needed for management of Barak Meghna River Basin

The Indian Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its ex post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bangladesh  on the establishment of a framework of cooperation in the area of trade remedial measures. The MoU seeks to foster better cooperation between the relevant authorities of both the countries so as to discourage unfair trade practices and promote rule based bilateral trading between the two countries, said the Press Information Bureau of India on Tuesday. Also Read: Bangladesh, India partners in development: Riva Director General of Trade Remedies, Republic of India and the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission signed the MoU on March 27. The primary objective of the MoU is to promote cooperation between the two countries in the area of Trade Remedies, covering the broad activities related to exchange of information, undertaking capacity building activities and activities in accordance with various provisions of World Trade Organization in the area of anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures in bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh. Also Read: Bangladesh, India need to work together: Jeffrey Sachs    

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said Bangladesh and India, as the closest neighbours, will continue to work together to establish a secure South Asia for the benefit of all people.

Bangladesh has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Bangladesh on March 26 in person to jointly celebrate the Independence Day of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will explore all the avenues to get a quick access to COVID-19 vaccine and choose one which will be safer and useful for Bangladesh, said Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.