— Photo: V.V. Krishnan

WARM WELCOME: Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh, being "victims" of terrorism, should join hands to fight the menace, Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Khaleda Zia agreed after two hours of talks here on Tuesday.

The External Affairs Ministry spokesman told presspersons that the Home Secretaries of the two countries would meet often and exchange information. The Joint Rivers Commission too would meet frequently to address water disputes.

While Begum Khaleda sought duty-free access to goods coming into India to set right the trade imbalance, the Indian side felt that investment proposals, such as the $2.5-billion project of the Tatas, were one way of dealing with the problem.

Dhaka and New Delhi also agreed to put into operation the Sealdah-Devpura railway link. However, an investment protection agreement could not be signed due to some last-minute problems.

Accords signed

Two pacts — a revised trade accord and another to prevent illicit narcotics trafficking — were signed in the presence of the Prime Ministers. .

Senior officials said that issues of concern were discussed during the restricted, one-on-one and delegation-level talks. An advance seems to have been made on terrorism, with both sides agreeing to deal with the problem.

In his banquet speech on Tuesday night, Dr. Singh said the dialogue had been "most useful" in understanding each other's point of view and in making progress on different issues.

"We believe sincerely that India and its neighbours have a common destiny. One cannot prosper without the other, and it is only through cooperation within the region that we can compete outside it. We believe it is our fundamental interest to see a strong, stable and economically strong Bangladesh making its full contribution to regional development," he said.

Economic relations

Begum Khaleda appealed to Dr. Singh to take steps to encourage more exports from Bangladesh, including duty-free access to goods.

"This would help us base our economic relations on an even more solid foundation. Your positive response would help Bangladesh in narrowing the widening trade gap between our two countries."

She called for a "common approach" to the sharing of river waters. "It is necessary that we have such an approach within the framework of satisfactory agreements. This is particularly important for those common rivers for which we do not have dry season sharing arrangements." She also sought constructive engagement in result-oriented solution to water-related issues, as they would contribute to consolidating and strengthening ties.

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