Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra arrives here today on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to take part in the Dhaka-Delhi Foreign Office Consultations (FOC), which will review the ongoing cooperation between the two countries apart from issues of mutual interests.
He is coming to Dhaka from Kathmandu ending his two-day visit to Nepal at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Masud Bin Momen.
This will be Kwatra’s first visit to Bangladesh since he took charge as India foreign secretary on May 1, 2022.
Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two countries have various issues of bilateral relationship, including Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the upcoming G20 Summit.
They said the visit of the Indian foreign secretary is also taking place in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and the priority India attaches to its relations with Bangladesh under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
During the visit, the two foreign secretaries will hold discussion on the entire range of multifaceted cooperation between India and Bangladesh, including trade, water sharing, border management, security, connectivity and projects being implemented under Indian Line of Credit.
Kwatra is expected to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen separately during the visit. He will also have discussion on the preparations for the upcoming G20 Summit to be held in Delhi on September 9-10.
Foreign Minister Momen will also visit New Delhi on March 1-2 to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
India, which holds the presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023, invited Bangladesh as a ‘guest country’ to its all meetings. Bangladesh sees its series of engagements with the G20 under India's presidency this year as a ‘big honour’.
“India has invited us to attend the G20 Summit and we’re honoured for this. India wants to be the voice of the global south and wants to take us aboard. We’re very happy,” Momen had earlier said.
The Group of Twenty is an economic cooperation which was formed on September 26, 1999. The G20 cooperation has 20 members -- the European Union (EU) and 19 other countries.
The G20 members include Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the US, the UK, the EU and Turkey.
They cover more than 75 percent of global trade, 80 percent of the world's GDP and more than 60 percent of the planet's population.
The main agenda of the G20 is to ensure global financial stability and sustain sovereign debt.
