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India and Bangladesh are looking to resume cross-border bus and railway services shortly after Eid, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Dhaka on Thursday the 28th of April 2022 as he called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and handed over an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to visit India.

Jaishankar, who arrived in Dhaka in the afternoon at the head of a high-level delegation including Foreign Secretary-designate Vijay Mohan Kwatra, called on the Bangladesh Prime Minister at Ganobhaban at 4 pm (local time).

Jaishankar said that despite the challenges of Covid, the two sides have remained regularly in touch and made good progress in the bilateral relations.

He said his visit is aimed at continuing the progress in deepening the engagement.

“In view of our strong people-to-people connect, I am very pleased to note that our connectivity is today back to pre-Covid levels and we are looking at resuming cross-border bus and railway services, shortly after Eid.”

The Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said that India is the most important neighbour for Bangladesh and the two countries have achieved remarkable progress in a number of areas.

He said both sides have resolved many of the outstanding issues in a spirit of friendship and cooperation and expressed hope that the remaining outstanding issues, including the early signing of the Teesta water sharing treaty, may be concluded at an early date.

He also sought the support of India for the speedy repatriation of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to their country of origin. Earlier, Jaishankar arrived at Bangabandhu Air Base at Kurmitola in Dhaka in the afternoon.