New Delhi: The commercial supply of high speed diesel (HSD) from India to Bangladesh begins on Saturday with an inaugural consignment of 2,200 metric tonnes.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, now in Delhi on a four-day crucial visit, and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will inaugurate the launching of the commercial operation.

Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said this to a visiting Bangladesh media delegation at a hotel in New Delhi on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, India has planned to build a pipeline to carry HSD to Bangladesh and a formal proposal on the friendship project is likely to be announced on Saturday during Sheikh Hasina’s meeting with Narendra Modi, diplomatic sources said.

Until the project is completed, HSD will be transported from Assam’s Numaligarh Refinery to Bangladesh via rail and one such consignment will be flagged off by the two prime ministers.

Talking about the current state of relations between Bangladesh and India, minister Pradhan said, “There’s a holistic cooperation between the two countries and our relations are moving towards a new era.”

After Modi’s Dhaka visit in 2015, he said, the two countries are enjoying very ‘engaging’ relations with a very high mutual trust.

Pradhan said the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will take the relations between the two countries to a new era with a broad cooperation.

Responding to a question from UNB, he said there is no gap between the two countries and said, “Our relationship is bolstering day by day benefiting the people of two countries.”

Responding to a question on Teesta issue, he said Teesta is an important issue but in Indian system there are certain areas where they need to take the State concerned in finding out a solution.

Asked about joint exploration in the Bay of Bengal, the minister said they are already doing some exploration activities in Bangladesh.

He acknowledged that Bangladesh plays a very important role for India in various issues.

Earlier, Union Minister of State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal told the delegation that India and Bangladesh have expanded the scope of engagement to an unprecedented scale, which has built a great level of mutual trust between the two Nations.

The minister noted that both countries have a lot to learn from each other and cooperate with on a number of issues of regional and global importance.

Goyal commended the neighbouring nation on its achievements like the Grameen Bank, revolution in the textile sector, on which India looks up to Bangladesh. “India and Bangladesh are neighbours, more than just neighbours,” he added.

Goyal also expressed confidence of receiving greater cooperation from Bangladesh in areas like developing intra-regional power and transport corridors, maintaining peace and security in the South Asian region by putting up a consolidated front against regional and global terrorism, among others.

This would enrich and strengthen the engagement between the two countries in the areas of mutual and shared interests, he added.

Talking about the future prospects of engagements between the Nations, Goyal expressed willingness in supporting Bangladesh in the Renewable Energy sector and Energy Efficiency initiatives, in which India has achieved a huge success.

The scale at which the RE sector has expanded will surely help Bangladesh learn from India’s experiences and help the Nation in transition towards Clean Energy in the future, the minister added.

The delegation of senior editors and journalists from Bangladesh concluded its visit on Friday morning.

The members of delegation were apprised about the series of reform measures that have been taken by the government to bring about transparency and accountability in the power sector and to achieve the mission of Affordable, Quality, 24x7 Power for All.

The interaction was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs as a familiarisation initiative for the delegation learning about the turnaround that has been achieved in India’s various sectors.