Bangladesh urged India to consider allowing the use of new land and rail routes and land ports via India to facilitate connectivity between Bangladesh and Nepal as well as Bhutan, officials of the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
It also requested India to address the various non-tariff barriers to the exports of goods from Bangladesh to India and also simplify customs procedures.
The request was made during the foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries held in Delhi on Friday.
The Indian side promised to consider the proposals, said Bangladesh foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen.
Mr Masud said several rounds of secretary-level meetings between the two countries will be held before the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka.
Commerce secretary and home secretary-level meeting will be held in Dhaka and the water secretary-level meeting will be held in Delhi, he told reporters.
He also informed that Indian foreign minister Jai Shankar will visit Dhaka in February to finalise the agenda of Hasina-Modi talks.
Bangladesh also requested early operationalisation of the Motor Vehicle Agreement under the framework of Bangladesh-India-Nepal (BIN), officials said.
Regarding LoC projects, the Bangladesh side stressed the need for streamlining issues such as project approval process, raw materials sourcing, banking requirements, calculation of grace period, etc.
When Bangladesh officials reiterated the push for signing the Teesta water-sharing agreement, their Indian counterparts said the matter is under consideration and also conveyed the proposal to work towards concluding the framework agreement of the sharing of waters of the six rivers.
The foreign secretary said the meeting discussed the need for increased cooperation between border forces with a view to bringing down border killings to zero.
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