Dhaka-Delhi agrees to jointly explore market from today' meeting 

Bangladesh and India today agreed to jointly explore the market of the two neighbouring countries for accelerating their economic development and reducing dependence on others.

The consensus came during a bilateral meeting between visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the latter's office here this morning.

After the meeting, Bangladesh PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters.

He said the Bangladesh Premier in the meeting proposed for jointly exploring the market and said India and Bangladesh are two huge countries, where a big market exists.

"If we could jointly explore our large market, rapid development will take place both in Bangladesh and India," she said, opining that it would also reduce dependence on others.

In reply, Narendra Modi welcomed the proposal of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. "It's a good proposal," Modi remarked.

In the meeting, the two premiers also agreed to conduct a joint exercise with South Asian countries on combating natural disasters.

The press secretary said Narendra Modi proposed for the joint exercise and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina welcomed it.

While talking about the implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), both Sheikh Hasina and Modi expressed satisfaction over the execution of the LBA smoothly.

In this connection, Sheikh Hasina said the LBA is being implemented in a festive mood and thanked the Indian premier for ratification of the deal in their parliament unanimously.

In this connection, the Indian Prime Minister noted that a political decision can be taken, but its implementation is very difficult. "But the agreement is being implemented without any trouble....it's a unique example in the world and it can be a case study for the political scientists," he said.

Expressing satisfaction over the progress of the implementation of the Bangladesh-India-Bhutan-Nepal (BIBN) Motor Vehicle Agreement, the two Prime Ministers hoped that with its execution the connectivity between the two countries would be enhanced further.

Recalling his Bangladesh tour, the Indian Prime Minister said he was very impressed by visiting the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhaka.

In this connection, he offered help for digitization and modernization of the museum. "We are ready to send expert to this end," Modi said.

In the meeting, the Bangladesh premier expressed her deep shock at the death of Suvra Mukherjee, wife of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

In this connection, she mentioned her long time relations with Suvra Mukherjee and said the relationship grew up when she was leading an exile life in India after the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975.

During the meeting, the Indian Prime Minister congratulated Sheikh Hasina on the election of Tulip Siddique in the British House of Commons. "I am very much happy on the election of your niece in the British parliament and I would meet her when I would visit Britain in November," he said.

Bangabandhu's younger daughter Sheikh Rehana, PM's daughter Saima Hossain, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, PM's Principal Secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad and Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Syed Moazzem Ali were present from the Bangladesh side.

The Indian side was represented by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar .