India ready to walk extra mile with Bangladesh

Three agreements to fight terror and a pact on sharing power will be the highlight of the maiden visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina here from next Monday during which India is expected to walk the extra mile to take the relationship to a higher trajectory.

Hasina will undertake a three-day visit during which she will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and receive the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize.

The talks are expected to cover issues like security, terrorism, border-related aspects, connectivity, trade and investment and cooperation in infrastructure building.

The two sides will sign an Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons and a pact on Combating International Terrorism, Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking.

An MoU on power sharing will also be inked along with a pact under which India will extend Line of Credit worth $500 million to cover building of infrastructure like railway network in Bangladesh.

However, an agreement on Teesta river water sharing, which the both countries were trying to reach during the visit, is unlikely to fructify as more negotiations are required to have a sustainable pact.

India sees the visit as a "significant opportunity" to forge a "new relationship" with Bangladesh and is willing to walk the extra mile to reach out to the new government headed by Hasina.