Rupesh Samant

Dona Paula (Goa): India and Bangladesh is likely to resume its collaboration in the oceanic research after the earlier attempts to share the expertise failed due to diplomatic issues.
CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and Dhaka University had signed memorandum of understanding in the year 2015 following which NIO’s ship had ventured for the research but was not allowed to enter Bangladesh’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“During that time the collaboration that had started between two countries (India and Bangladesh) was at scientists’ level. The ministries of both the countries were not involved,” CSIR-NIO Director Sunil Kumar Singh said.
He said that the Indian researchers were not allowed to enter the exclusive economic zone of Banglaesh by their government.
“Now the collaboration will resume in near future as it would be done at the level of ministries of both the countries,” he said.
Singh said that the mission which was set as a part of Indo-Bangla collaboration was “not suspended” as “our researchers did work in our own areas but could not go into Bangladesh’s EEZ.”
He said that the collaboration will resume soon with Myanmar also being considered to be part of it.
Indo-Bangladesh initiative was announced by then Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan in presence of senior researchers in Goa in the year 2015.