Manmohan-Hasina meet on sidelines of NAM summit

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of the XVIth NAM summit in Teheran on Wednesday during which the two leaders broadly discussed all aspects of bilateral ties.

According to official sources, both the leaders met with their respective delegations for about 40 minutes. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai were among those present during the delegation-level meet.

Both the prime ministers also had one-to-one discussions for about 15 minutes.

The two leaders, who met for the first time after the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit held in Addu City of Maldives, discussed progress in trade, security cooperation and development in other areas, including the power sector.

According to official sources, Dr Singh mentioned that he had decided the terms of line of credit extended to Bangladesh from one million dollar last year, out of which 200 million has been turned into a grant, so Bangladesh doesn't need to pay this interest and now can avail this as and when it deems fit for development.

Both sides appreciated cooperation in the security sector and expressed satisfaction over trade and investment. Bangladeshi exports have increased due to zero duty on some of their goods. A joint consultative commission has been constituted for trade between the two sides.

Both sides also agreed that additional border haats be increased.

Meanwhile, India has said that every effort will be made to ensure that the construction of the Tipaimukh dam will not have an adverse effect on Bangladesh.

A team of Bangladeshi journalists has been flown to the area to assess details related to the dam construction.