Sushma Swaraj visiting Bangladesh on October 23 for JCC meet

Dhaka, Oct 6 (IANS) Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Bangladesh on October 23 for the next bilateral Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations and take forward decisions taken so far, a media report said.

Bangladesh Foreign minister A.H. Mahmood Ali and Sushma Swaraj will lead their respective sides at the meeting which is likely to be held on October 23, the United News of Bangladesh reported.

Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on October 23, a diplomatic source told UNB on Friday.

The meeting will coordinate, oversee and follow-up implementation of initiatives as well as explore new avenues for cooperation.

The meeting comes after the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries met in New Delhi. Bangladesh Foreign Secretary M. Shahidul Haque met his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar on Thursday and discussed the visit of Sushma Swaraj and the Rohingya crisis.

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his Dhaka visit this week said connectivity is crucial to the success of the Bangladesh-India bilateral development partnership, sub-regional economic cooperation and economic prosperity in the region.

"India-Bangladesh relations are at their best today and stand out as a model for other countries to emulate," he said after his meeting with Bangladesh Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith. The two sides signed the final agreement of $4.5 billion third Indian Line of Credit (LoC).

Both Bangladesh and India reviewed the bilateral relationship, in particular economic cooperation, which has recorded "significant progress" in recent years.

Bangladesh and India think Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India was a landmark event that resulted in the signing of a record 36 agreements.

Several investment proposals by Indian public and private sector companies in Bangladesh are in the pipeline, UNB said.