& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

2 deals likely during Indian FM's visit

EUenvoys meet Dipu, pledges continued support

Diplomatic Correspondent
Bangladesh and India are likely to sign two important agreements on bilateral trade and investment promotion and protection during the next month's visit by Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Pranab is due to pay an official visit to Dhaka on February 8-9. It will be the first high-profile visit by any state since the Awami League-led grand alliance assumed power through alandslide victory.
Emerging from a meeting with Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and State Minister
SEE PAGE 15 COL 1
FROM PAGE 16
Hassan Mahmud yesterday. Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said: “The agreement needs to be signed as the existing three-years bilateral trade agreement will expire in March this year and be renewed through a fresh accord.”
He said the investment promotion and protection agreement will be necessary since there is a trend of investment flow from either sidelndian investors will come to invest in Bangladesh and vice versa.
Replying to a question about priority issues from the Indian side, the high commissioner said they need greater cooperation to jointly tackle terrorists, insurgents and operatives of cross-border crime.
When asked about irritants like delimitation of maritime boundary the high commissioner said, at the previous meeting with the Bangladesh foreign secretary he had proposed him to send a technical-level team to India to discuss the matter, as India will have to submit its claim over its maritime zone to the UN by next June.
On another query about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's proposal to forge a joint anti-tertonsrn taskforce by countries n the region, the Indian envoy political leaders might discuss the formation of an
exclusive group that would deal specifically with some serious issues like terrorism, and insurgency.
Meanwhile, EU envoys in Dhaka yesterday assured their continued support to Bangladesh's trade and development. The EU countries last year disbursed 550 million Euros as grants for various projects in Bangladesh.
“We are committed partners in the areas of trade, development cooperation and a number of other areas," said Sweden Ambassador Britt F Hagstorm, current chair of EU. after a meeting with Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday. Ms. Hagstorm led a nine-member delegation.
In reply to another question, she said the EU wants to see future democratic progress in all areas. Apart form this the other major challenges facing Bangladesh are poverty alleviation, human rights and foreign investment, the Ambassador added.
Other diplomats present at the meeting included British High Commissioner Stephen Evans, German Ambassador Frank Meyke, French Charge d Affaires Patirck Brancho, Italian Ambassador Itala Maria Mana Occhi, Dutch Ambassador Bea Ten Tusscher, Danish Ambassador Einer H Jensen and EU Ambassador Stefan Frowf in.