With Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India on the anvil, the Indian Union Cabinet has approved a bunch of MoUs to be signed between Dhaka and Delhi.
Chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Cabinet approved MoUs that include the agreement on audio visual co-production and cooperation in the field of mass media among others.
 The audio-visual co-production agreement would facilitate co-production of films, documentaries, and animations films. It shall also entitle stakeholders to all the benefits, which may be accorded to any national audio-visual work by both countries in accordance with their respective laws and regulations. It will, in addition lead to exchange of art and culture among the two countries and create goodwill and better understanding among the peoples of both the countries.
Apart from giving an opportunity to create and showcase soft power, this agreement would lead to generation of employment among artistic, technical as well as non-technical personnel engaged in the arena of audio-visual co-production including post-production and its marketing, thus adding to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of both the countries.
The utilization of Indian locales for shooting raises the visibility / prospect of India as a preferred film shooting destination across the globe, the MoU stated.
 India has so far entered into audio-visual co-production agreements with Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, France, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Canada, China and the Republic of Korea.
 The cabinet also approved an MoU on cooperation in the field of mass media between the two countries. The main areas of cooperation are as stated  in the MoU include facilitation of training/study tour of personnel in the field of mass media and public relations; encouraging the exchange of experts in the field of mass media; encouraging cooperation between educational, training and research institutions in the field of mass media & communication as also  facilitating exchange of publications generated by these institutions; co-operation and sharing experiences in the field of regulations of the mass media activities and statistical data relating to the mass media and facilitating accredited mass media representatives to set up offices in the creation of conditions necessary for performance of professional duties on the basis of reciprocity.
Another MoU approved by the Union Cabinet relates to passenger cruise services on the coastal and protocol routes between India and Bangladesh for starting regular movement of passengers and tourists in water crafts between the two countries.
The operationalisation of this MoU will promote people to people contact and cooperation between the two countries in respect of economic, social and cultural advancement. It will also generate employment opportunities for the people of India and Bangladesh.
The cabinet also approved signing of MoU between the two countries in the field of judicial sector cooperation. This is aimed at developing, promoting and strengthening mutual cooperation between the judiciaries of the two countries.
The MoU provides for promoting mutual interaction among judges and officials at various levels of the judiciary through exchange visits, training and academic programmes. It will also encourage mutual exchange of information on latest developments in the field of law and justice. It will enable exchange of knowledge in infrastructure and information technology in this field.
Another MoU that got the cabinet nod is for fairway development of Ashuganj-Zakiganj stretch of the Kushiara River and Sirajganj-Daikhawa stretch of the Jamuna River in the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route by undertaking necessary dredging jointly by the two countries.The MoU will considerably reduce the logistics cost of cargo movement to North Eastern India. It will also reduce the congestion through the Siliguri Chicken’s Neck corridor according to an official press release.