Dhaka  - Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived in Dhaka Monday for talks on trade, investment and security with top Bangladeshi officials.

"We will work for further improvement of bilateral relations and find new areas of cooperation," Pranab said on his arrival at the Zia International Airport.

Pranab was scheduled to hold meetings with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Foreign Minister Dipu Moni later in the day.

Dhaka  - The United States wants to help Bangladesh protect mineral-rich waters it claims in the Bay of Bengal through maritime patrolling, a senior US official said Sunday.

"I think there is some interest in maritime patrols to protect your sea areas better. There are some areas where we can help ...," Richard A Boucher, the US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, told a press conference.

Wrapping up a two-day visit to Bangladesh, the US official said the modalities of the proposed cooperation in maritime patrols depends on Bangladesh's requirements and US ability to meet them.

Dhaka  - Three Chinese crew of a Panama flag-carrier vessel were killed in Bangladesh's main Chittagong port when they fell into an oil tank of the vessel, port official said Saturday.

The officials said that the Chinese national sailors identified as Tan Weifang, 37, the chief officer, Ju Liang Shang, 41, the third officer, and sailor Xu Jiang, 26 died of toxic gas of the tank.

The crew of the edible oil-laden vessel MT Zhong Ye-6, which reached the Chittagong Port at about on Saturday, fell into the oil tank of the vessel while working on the tank.

Dhaka - A senior US State Department official Saturday assured that Washington would support Bangladesh's proposal for a regional anti-terrorism taskforce in South Asia.

"It is a good idea. We will see how other countries in the region react. We will look forward to supporting it, if needed," the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard A Boucher, said after a meeting with Bangladesh Home Minister Sahara Khatun.

Dhaka- Bangladesh has recorded a rise in remittance inflow, from its over 6 million expatriate workers, despite a global recession that forces massive job cuts around the world, central bank officials said Saturday.

The South Asian country received over 860 million dollars in remittances in January, the highest in the last seven months and almost 22 per cent more than the same month in 2008, according to a provisional estimate released by Bangladesh Bank.

Bangladeshi expatriates, most of whom are employed in oil-rich Middle East countries, sent home over 710 million dollars in January 2008.

Dhaka - African countries, comprising the second largest region in global cotton trade, aim to grab larger share of Bangladesh's 1-billion-dollar cotton market, a media report said Friday.

Accounting for roughly 20 per cent of the global cotton trade worth 12 billion dollars, the African cotton growers with a 10 per cent market share in Bangladesh, now want to export directly to the South Asian country instead relying on mostly Swiss and French cotton merchants.