Indian cabinet okays 5 MoUs

The Indian cabinet yesterday approved five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), including one on development of waterways on Kushiara and Jamuna rivers, to be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit there on April 8.

A meeting of the cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cleared the MoU on fairway development of Ashuganj-Zakiganj stretch of the Kushiara river and Sirajganj-Daikhawa stretch of the Jamuna river in the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route by undertaking necessary dredging jointly by the two countries, an official statement said.

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The MoU will considerably reduce the logistics cost of cargo movement to northeastern India and also the road traffic congestion through the Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck corridor connecting mainland India with its northeastern states.

The cabinet also gave its green signal to an MoU on passenger cruise services on the coastal routes between India and Bangladesh for starting regular movement of passengers and tourists in watercraft between the two countries.

“The operationalisation of this MoU will promote people-to-people contact and cooperation between the two countries in respect of economic, social and cultural advancement. It will also generate employment opportunities for the people of India and Bangladesh,” the statement said.

A separate MoU between India and Bangladesh in the field of judicial sector cooperation was also okayed by the Indian cabinet. It is aimed at developing and strengthening mutual cooperation between the judiciaries of the two countries.

The MoU provides for promoting interaction among judges and officials at various levels of the judiciary through exchange of visits, training and academic programmes between the two countries.

The cabinet also approved an MoU for cooperation between India and Bangladesh in mass media under which both the countries will facilitate training and study tour of personnel in mass media and public relations, encourage exchange of experts in mass media, promote cooperation between educational, training and research institutions in mass media and communication. It is also aimed at facilitating exchange of publications generated by these institutions.

The cabinet gave its stamp of approval on an agreement on coproduction of films, documentaries and animations films. The agreement will help generate employment among artistic, technical as well as non-technical personnel, the statement said.

INDIA TO HELP MODERNISE BANGLADESH'S RAIL NETWORK

Indian Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu yesterday said India was willing to help Bangladesh in a greater way to modernise its railway networks and its required expansion if it benefits Bangladesh, reports diplomatic correspondent.

“We don't want to do anything which doesn't benefit Bangladesh, too. Both sides must benefit from any such cooperation,” he said while talking to visiting Bangladesh media delegation at Rail Bhaban in New Delhi.

He said India would be happy to do as much as possible for Bangladesh in terms of extending cooperation.

Responding to a question, the minister said India and Bangladesh would work on connecting missing railway links, and Chittagong would also be connected under such initiatives.

“India's relations with Bangladesh has never been better than today. We will be providing supports to Bangladesh in railway sector,” he said.

Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express would have more frequent journeys -- four trains from Dhaka and four from Kolkata every week soon with fully air-conditioned coaches, said the Indian side.