DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to visit Thailand to attend the BIMSTEC summit on November 30.

Masud Bin Momen, secretary to the foreign ministry, said this after a meeting with Indian Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East) Shaurabh Kumar in the capital yesterday.

From December, Bangladesh will be the next chair and India the secretary general of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.

There will also be a foreign minister-level meeting of the BIMSTEC on July 17, Momen told reporters at the foreign ministry.

He added that he and the Indian external affairs secretary discussed the agenda of the minister-level meeting and the future course of actions for BIMSTEC.

Shaurabh talked about India’s perspectives as a focal country for security issues while Momen shared how there might be free trade in the sub-region.

Roads and energy connectivity were also discussed.

“We also want to take the bilateral or trilateral projects to a higher level.”

There are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal Motor Vehicle project, Asian Highway Project, and India, Myanmar, Thailand Highway Project, he said.

“These should be coordinated, not fragmented. The same goes with the grid connectivity.”

When asked if they discussed the upcoming national election, Momen said the issue was irrelevant.

“These meetings are pre-scheduled. One is not linked to the other. There can be many meetings simultaneously and each has its issues [to discuss].”