Ensure sugar, onion supply before Ramadan

Dhaka has requested Delhi to ensure supply of at least 1 lakh tonnes of sugar and 50,000 tonnes of onions to Bangladesh before the Ramadan begins next month.

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud made the request yesterday when he met India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal at the Parliament Bhaban in Delhi, says a foreign ministry statement.

During his three-day visit to India from February 7 to 9, Hasan held meetings with Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President and the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

He also delivered a lecture at the Vivekananda International Foundation and interacted with foreign journalists in Delhi.

After the meeting with Goyal yesterday, he told journalists, "We have discussed in detail the issues of uninterrupted supply of essential commodities to Bangladesh, especially ahead of the Ramadan, to ensure stability in prices of essentials."

Hasan also requested him to take measures for removing tariff and non-tariff barriers for the export of Bangladeshi products to India.

Goyal said India is committed to ensuring the economic and financial stability in Bangladesh and assured him of accommodating the request for supplying essential commodities.

Bangladesh imports commodities from India worth $14 billion while exports to India worth $2 billion.

The two ministers discussed in detail the trade relationship, cooperation in the areas of trade and commerce, connectivity, defence, security and water sharing.

Meanwhile, Indian President Droupadi Murmu yesterday lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for remarkable socio-economic development and women empowerment in Bangladesh.

Murmu said both countries should work together to focus on women empowerment to foster economic development, reports UNB.

The Indian president made the remarks when the foreign minister met her at Rashtrapati Bhaban.

She said all the women in South Asia should be proud of Hasina for her capability and leadership.

The Indian president said a "strong, stable, and prosperous" Bangladesh is in India's interest, and there is immense political will on both sides to see the relationship grow.

She expressed satisfaction at the progress made in almost all areas of bilateral cooperation, such as border and security, trade, connectivity, power, infrastructure, and people-to-people contacts.

The president conveyed felicitations to Hasina for her unprecedented fourth consecutive term as the prime minister of Bangladesh.

Hasan requested Murmu to visit Bangladesh at her earliest convenience.

He was scheduled to return to Dhaka last night after attending a civic reception in Kolkata at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission.