Bangladesh has urged the SAARC secretariat to pursue issues of common rivers in the region as new secretary general of the eight-nation grouping Arjun Bahadur Thapa called on State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, a foreign office statement said here on Monday.
“He (Alam) requested the Secretary General to pursue the regional cooperation on the issue of common rivers, since Bangladesh suffers badly for insufficient water during the dry season,” a statement said referring to their meeting late yesterday.
The state minister, it said, also insisted on regional cooperation in the hydropower sector among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan, BSS reports.
Thapa is now in Dhaka on his first visit after his assumption of the office on March 1 while he also attended the second meeting of the SAARC Cabinet Secretaries in Dhaka on April 26-27.
Alam assured new Secretary General of SAARC Arjun Bahadur Thapa of extending all cooperation on Bangladesh’s part.
The SAARC Secretary General thanked Bangladesh for its contribution to the eight nation regional grouping as one of its founding members.
He also briefed the Minister on the implementation status of various initiatives within the SAARC process.
They also discussed issues on various sectors of regional cooperation which include poverty alleviation, trade, hydropower, connectivity and climate change.
