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India is looking to further strengthen its economic partnership with Bangladesh by expanding trade, financial cooperation and digital connectivity, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pranay Kumar Verma said on Sunday.
The remarks came after a meeting with Bangladesh's Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, where both sides discussed ways to enhance business opportunities and modernise financial systems.
The discussions also touched on development cooperation projects and India's experience in digital financial inclusion, reflecting growing interest in using technology to make economic participation broader and more accessible in the region.
"The idea, as I said, is to deepen our economic and trade relations, and strengthen our economic connectivity," Mr Verma told reporters after the meeting at the minister's office at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
Mr Verma said he discussed with the minister some of the priorities of Bangladesh-India cooperation in the financial sector.
"As the minister mentioned about ease of doing business, taxation reforms, reform of economic institutions and financial sector reforms, in all these areas I also briefed him about our experience," he said.
"We also discussed greater use of technology to make economic participation more inclusive," said the High Commissioner of the neighbouring country.
Mr Verma said he briefed the minister in detail about India's "successful" experience of financial inclusion using digital public infrastructure. "So it was a very forward-looking conversation."
The issue of development cooperation projects, including India's Line of Credit programme, was also discussed during the meeting, he said. "They are all moving forward and you know that all the projects which are on the ground are progressing satisfactorily."
"There are some issues that we are trying to resolve, which happens in large projects, but we are very happy with the progress and we will continue to have good consultations and exchanges with the finance ministry to take them forward," said the envoy.
He said overall it was a very positive discussion. "We agreed that as two large economies and forward-moving societies, there is much we can do together. If we work closely, we can transform our geographical proximity into new economic opportunities and set a forward-looking, people-centric agenda for cooperation."
Mr Verma also spoke about pursuing an agenda aligned with bilateral national development priorities and driven by new ideas, aspirations and technologies.
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