Indian Foreign Secy in Dhaka: Dhaka, Delhi to sign two deals

Two deals, involving Tk 50 crore, will be signed between Bangladesh and India today during the two-day visit of Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.

The deals will be on two projects -- establishment of computer and language lab at 905 primary schools across the country and rehabilitation and improvement of roads in Rangpur City Corporation. Each of the projects cost will be Tk 25 crore.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla will sign the deals on behalf of their respective governments at State Guest House Padma. Gokhale, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday, will be present at the signing ceremony.

According to an ERD official, the two projects will be implemented with the funds from the Indian government.

India is interested in providing grants to help familiarise students with various computer applications and enhance their reading habits. Students will get the opportunity to acquire important IT skills through the effective use of computers from their school lives, the official said.

He said under the computer and language lab project, at least four to five desktop computers and necessary furniture would be provided for each of 905 schools.

Under the project of rehabilitation and improvement of roads in Rangpur city, a road network will be established to improve the city's road communications.

It would help reduce traffic jams in the city, the official said.       

On April 11 in 2013, an memorandum of understanding (MoU) was inked between the two countries to implement different small projects in Bangladesh with the grant from Delhi.

The ERD official said India would approve three projects every year to be implemented under small grant from India and the projects will continue over the years as per the MoU. But the grant amount will not exceed Tk 25 crore for a single project.

As per the condition of the MoU, only the local government bodies in Bangladesh could execute this type of project.

The official said eight projects, involving Tk 332.19 crore, under small grant from the Indian government were being implemented.

Indian diplomats in Dhaka told The Daily Star that Gokhale's visit was a part of his familiarisation trip. He was appointed in February this year. On his first mission as the Indian foreign secretary, he visited Bhutan on April 1-2.