Indian cabinet prepares ground ahead of Hasina’s visit

Ahead of the visit of Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, the Indian cabinet approved on Thursday a draft of measures aimed at strengthening cultural, maritime, judicial and economic engagement with the neighbouring country.

The Cabinet approved an MoU on passenger cruise services on the coastal and protocol routes between India and Bangladesh for starting regular movement of passengers and tourists.

The Bangladesh PM is arriving India on April 7 on a four-day visit. "The operationalisation of this MoU will promote people-to-people contact and cooperation between the two countries in respect of economic, social and cultural advancement. It will also generate employment opportunities for the people of India and Bangladesh," an official statement said.

The Cabinet also approved signing of an MoU in the field of judicial sector cooperation. It is aimed at developing, promoting and strengthening cooperation between the judiciaries of the two countries. It will also facilitate interaction among judges and officials at various levels of the judiciary through exchange visits, training and academic programmes.

The Cabinet also approved an MoU for fairway development of the Ashuganj-Zakiganj stretch of Kushiyara river and Sirajganj-Daikhawa stretch of Jamuna river in the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route by undertaking dredging jointly by the two countries. This will reduce the logistics cost of cargo movement to northeastern India and ease the congestion through the Siliguri Chicken`s Neck corridor.

The Cabinet also gave its nod to the agreement on audio-visual co-production between the two countries. The agreement would cover co-production of films, documentaries and animations.

Source: Times of India