Indian companies interested to build deep seaport

Several Indian companies are interested to build a deep seaport in Bangladesh, the country’s foreign secretary has told Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The proposal could be executed through a consortium, Hasina said in response when S Jaishankar made a courtesy call on her at Ganabhaban on Wednesday evening.

Bangladesh has already put in play two deep seaports at Maheshkhali’s Sonadia in Cox’s Bazar and at Patuakhali’s Payra.

The government has said that China, Japan, United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands have shown interest in funding these two projects.

Briefing the reporters after Wednesday’s meeting, Hasina’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said Jaishankar had referred to the bilateral cooperation between India and Bangladesh as ‘a model’ for the world.

“This model is also being appreciated in India,” Karim quoted him as saying.

The visiting Indian foreign secretary also thanked Bangladesh for its support in launching the SAARC Satellite.

Hasina and Jaishankar also discussed supplying power from Tripura to Bangladesh and from Bangladesh to India’s northeast states. They also talked about the Land Boundary Agreement implemented last year.

Both recalled Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Dhaka in June last year, Karim said.

Hasina said her counterpart’s visit took the bilateral ties between the neighbouring countries to a new height.

Jaishankar told her that New Delhi had made 14 commitments during Modi’s visit and eight of them have been fulfilled already.

He said India was making progress in meeting the other pledges.