Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin on Tuesday said India is the closest neighbour of Bangladesh and the country looks forward to taking forward the relationship to a people-centric approach.

The foreign secretary underscored the significance of addressing key issues that could act as catalysts for a forward-looking relationship, particularly stopping border killings and concluding the Teesta water-sharing agreement.

He also discussed the flood situation in Bangladesh when Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma met him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Indian high commissioner congratulated the foreign secretary on assuming his new responsibilities.

He expressed the willingness of the government of India to work with the interim government of Bangladesh in the coming days.

During the meeting, Jashim Uddin mentioned that Bangladesh witnessed a second liberation recently through a mass uprising spearheaded by valiant students, joined by the mass people.

He thanked the government of India and the prime minister of India for his good wishes extended to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus.

He also thanked the External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar for his message of felicitation to the adviser of foreign affairs on his assumption of new responsibilities.

On regional cooperation, the foreign secretary stressed meaningful regional cooperation under SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

He mentioned that Bangladesh expects cooperation from India on the issue of early repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland, Myanmar.