Dhaka, Delhi to ink deals on transit and fighting terrorism, crime

Nov 14, 2009, 13:48 GMT

Dhaka - Bangladesh and India are poised to sign deals on fighting international terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking next month, officials said in Dhaka Saturday.

The agreements are to be inked during a forthcoming visit by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to New Delhi.

The neighbours would also strike deals on the transfer of prisoners and on cooperation in criminal matters, Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes said after a meeting with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao in Dhaka.

'This is going to be a significant visit, Rao told reporters of the Bangladeshi premier's planned visit.

Under the deals, India will be allowed to carry machinery for a power plant to its north-eastern states through Bangladeshi territory and sell 250 megawatts of electricity produced at the plant to Bangladesh.

Dhaka is expected to meanwhile raise the issue of sharing of water on the trans-boundary rivers and the killing of Bangladeshis by Indian border guards.

'We want to remove cobwebs on these issues and understand each other's position in transparent manner so we can take joint efforts to resolve these,' Quayes told a press briefing.

'The India side has responded positively to giving us railway transit through three bordering points (Birol-Radhikapur, Rahanpur- Singhabad and Chilahati-Haldibari),' he said.