Bangladesh

Addressing the 7th Joint Consultative Commission meeting with Bangladesh, he said: "Today Bangladesh is our largest development partner, it is our largest trade partner in the region, it is our largest visa operation overseas. And that really underlines every aspect of our cooperation. And we in turn, are your largest export destination in Asia. I am glad to see that your exports have doubled to $2 billion this year."

India and Bangladesh share 54 common rivers and the two countries have a 2,979 km land border and 1,116 km of riverine boundary. Addressing the "NADI (River) Conclave 2022" in Guwahati, Momen said that Bangladesh believes in the expansion and extension of the waterway movement between India and Bangladesh. "We need to develop a win-win river and water sharing regime."

Addressing a "NADI (River) Conclave 2022" in Guwahati, the External Minister said that six old cross border rail links between India and Bangladesh need to be restored." There are 10 waterway protocol routes between India and Bangladesh. Nine new "Border Haats" (markets) between India and Bangladesh are being set up," Dr Jaishankar said adding "We are improving connectivity with Nepal and Bhutan".

Several hundred Bangladeshi nationals are housed in prisons across India (most of them in West Bengal) after being charged under the Foreigners Act. An illegal immigrant can face a sentence of up to five years under this Act. What used to happen in the past was that such people would be prosecuted and spend years behind the bars (including women and children) in Indian prisons.

BIMSTEC is a regional organisation that was established on June 6, 1997, with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration. "The summit meeting, which is being held in virtual mode, will be hosted by Sri Lanka, the current BIMSTEC chair," the Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday. To prepare for the summit, meetings of BIMSTEC Senior Officials (SOM) will take place on March 28, followed by meetings of the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers (BMM) the next day.

Lata Mangeshkar travelled across cities in India in Indian Air Force (IAF) planes to mobilize support in support of Bangladesh’s Liberation war in 1971 as well as raise funds for the Bengali refugees who had crossed over during the war, as per a report by The Daily Star. “She sang the song "O Dadabhai", composed by Salil Chowdhury for the film "Raktakto Bangla", which was released in December 1972. It is the only song sung by Lata Mangeshkar in Bangladeshi films.

The Chinese suffered much higher casualties in the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash than earlier reported. Several of the Chinese soldiers drowned while crossing the fast-flowing Galwan rover, as per an investigative report by Australia’s The Klaxon. This report is titled “Galwan Decoded” and is one of the cited sources for this piece by The Klaxon.

The fly-past will involve participation from one Dakota in the vintage Tangail formation and two Dornier flying in a Vic formation, said IAF PRO Wing Commander Indranil Nandi at a press briefing.  This will be a tribute to the Tangail airdrop operation-single largest airdrop involving Indian Paratroopers which led to the surrender of 93000 strong Pakistan Army- undertaken during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.  

The Inspector General of BSF, Sushanta Kumar Nath, said that over 80 per cent of the fencing work on the 856 km India-Bangladesh international border in Tripura has already been completed. He also said that substantial fencing work has been completed last year in Tripura's eastern sector and the remaining work on a 31 km porous patch has been taken up on a priority basis wherein the single row fencing has gained momentum in the state and 10 km was fenced in last year.

The foreign secretary was talking to media persons after visiting Indian President Ram Nath Kovind held delegation-level talks with Bangladesh's top leadership in Dhaka. Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that both neighbours are bound by history and culture. He also said that President Kovind held defence-related talks with Bangladesh's top leadership.