Kamal meets his Indian counterpart in India

Bangladesh Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal attended a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in India yesterday.

Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed Kamal at the beginning of the meeting after which both ministers discussed the bilateral economic cooperation between Bangladesh and India, according to a finance ministry press release.

Kamal said relations between India and Bangladesh are very strong and friendly.

Recalling India's cooperation in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, the Bangladeshi finance minister said: "India's name is closely associated with our great Liberation War."

"The three names -- Bangabandhu, Bangladesh and India -- are closely associated with the Liberation War. India is not only Bangladesh's closest neighbour but our trusted and tested friend also," he said. 

Bangladesh has been given the status of a "Guest Country" in the South Asian region despite not being a member of the G20 alliance.

India, the host country, has invited Bangladesh, the only country in South Asia, as a "Guest Country".

The finance minister of India praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership in the development of Bangladesh-India relations and the overall socio-economic development of Bangladesh.

She said that the relationship between the people of the two countries will be strengthened as the connectivity between the two countries increases.

Nirmala expressed hopes of working together by identifying the areas of increasing cooperation in various sectors of economies of the two countries.