India is continuing to give ₹120 crore (about $14.5 million) in aid to Bangladesh for the financial years 2024 and 2025. This money is meant to help Bangladesh, but because of ongoing political troubles and security issues, India will not start any new helpful projects there until at least 2026. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) mentioned that conditions in Bangladesh are uncertain and they need to be careful before making new commitments.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri shared with a parliamentary panel that project delays are happening due to the political situation in Bangladesh, especially with elections coming up early in 2024. He also noted that political disturbances throughout the last year have made it hard to move forward with new projects.
India’s budget for helping other countries has increased for the upcoming financial year (FY26), but the amount for Bangladesh will remain the same. Usually, India supports smaller community projects in friendly neighboring countries that improve daily life, like building roads or supplying clean water. However, for the time being, no new projects can be started in Bangladesh due to the ongoing issues.
The MEA confirmed that two current projects in Bangladesh will be finished by May 2025, which includes providing technology training and building a new center for education. One important project, a train link between India and Bangladesh, is already complete and will be officially used in June 2025.
The parliamentary committee also urged the MEA to work closely with Bangladesh to keep these projects safe from the political challenges there. They also questioned whether India’s aid to Myanmar, which has also seen political instability, is enough given China’s increasing influence in the region.
Lastly, the committee encouraged accelerating the link between the Passport Seva Programme and Indian identification systems like Aadhaar and PAN numbers to make processing easier for applicants. Current passport issues like delay in checks due to police processes were also discussed.
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