Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has sought ‘closest possible’ ties with Bangladesh and tried to allay all its concerns with an optimistic note that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit would ‘fully exemplify’ New Delhi’s ‘strong sentiment of goodwill, trust and respect’ for Dhaka.
“It is inevitable that our partnership builds upon the deepest commonalities. And it is inconceivable to even contemplate anything else,” he said on Monday while speaking on ‘Bangladesh and India: A promising future’ in Dhaka.
He came to Dhaka, first after becoming the foreign secretary of the largest democracy in the world, for finalising the visit plan of Modi on March 17 for attending the inaugural ceremony of Mujib Year – the yearlong birth centenary celebrations of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Government think-tank Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) with the support of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka organised the talk with Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi attending it as the chief guest.
Shringla, who was the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka between 2015 and 2018, said: “We are joined by history, culture, and shared sacrifice just as much as we are joined by shared waters, the same cherished soil and by our fraternal ties.”
“Baanglar maati [soil] and Baanglar jol [water] enrich and nurture both of us; they sustain our societies and they sustain our souls,” he said, invoking emotions in the crowded ballroom of the Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargoan.
The Indian foreign secretary cited examples of the ongoing NRC issue in India and said as the closest of neighbours, with so many shared cultural traits, “it is also inevitable that events in each other’s countries create ripples across the border – irrespective of whether there is real justification for this.”
“It’s (NRC) entirely an internal issue of India and in no way will have implications on Bangladesh,” he said, adding that New Delhi assured Dhaka again and again.
On Modi’s visit, Shringla said: “We are looking forward to this visit, both because of the priority the Prime Minister attaches to this relationship, and even more so, because Bangabandhu is just so iconic – as a globally-recognized statesman and iconic symbol of liberation for Bangladesh and for our subcontinent.”
“For us in India, there is a special resonance to his name. He is as revered and as remembered in India, as he is here in Bangladesh,” he said. “Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is our national hero too,” he said, citing Modi.
Referring to his stint in Dhaka, the Indian foreign secretary said his visit is like returning home. “Distance often helps with perspective. In the year I have been away from Shonar Bangla I have had the opportunity to focus on the fundamentals of our partnership. And I can emphasise with great conviction that this is a relationship that is truly of the highest priority to India,” he said.
“As our former External Affairs Minister, the late Smt Sushma Swaraj, said in Dhaka two years ago, even in the implementation of our "neighbourhood first" policy, it is “Bangladesh first” for us. Often, we tend to lose sight of these larger realities, especially in the noise and clamour of the immediate, and in the minutiae of the moment.
“But for those of us who are in the business of policy-making, there is little doubt about the abiding reality that we in India will always seek the closest possible ties with Bangladesh,” he said.
By closest possible ties, Shringla said, he meant that “it is entirely in India's national interest to fully support your own efforts to build a strong, prosperous, progressive, peaceful and harmonious Bangladesh; to build a nation that stays true to the extraordinarily far-sighted vision of Bangabandhu.”
“Your astonishing successes in improving socio-economic indices – from infant mortality to women's education; from primary health to literacy –have been given new energy by the world's most impressive economic development rates.
“Today it is Bangladesh that is leading Asia's development race, a miraculous achievement that merits every word of praise,” he said.
Apart from NRC, Shringla dealt the issues of border killing and Teesta water sharing. He said there is ‘no difference’ between India and Bangladesh on the way forward in addressing the Rohingya crisis.
“We have resolved many such issues through a consistent and focused effort. We have sought to identify and eliminate obstacles to our partnership, without finding fault or apportioning blame. In sum, we have worked to find quick, practical and practicable solutions.
“Let me assure our friends here that we remain committed to finding the best possible solutions to sharing scarcities and hardships fairly during the dry season,” he said.
“There will be no implications for the Government and people of Bangladesh. You have our assurance on that count,” the Indian foreign secretary said on water sharing issue.
“The great poet-philosopher, Kazi Nazrul Islam, once wrote “We all share happiness and sorrow equally.”
“This noble emotion must motivate us, as neighbours, to recognize that both sorrow and happiness do not respect borders or passports: in this globalised era, they arrive equally at everyone’s doorstep.
“Our approach to Bangladesh will always be characterized by this sentiment. And I trust that our Prime Minister’s visit later this month will fully exemplify India’s strong sentiment of goodwill, trust and respect for Bangladesh,” Shringla said.
“As your largest neighbour on land and on sea, with the many ties that bind us together, it is natural that our partnership has been evolving to focus much more squarely on mutually-beneficial cooperation,” he said.
Shringla said, “It is this spirit, as well as the sagacity and statesmanship of our leadership, that have enabled us to address and resolve some of the hardest problems that bedevil relations between any neighbours – problems such as those of borders and land exchanges.
“It is in this overall context that Bangladesh today has become our largest development partner in the world; our largest trade partner in the region; and our most extensive and integrated government-to-government relationship.”
He said, “At the level of people to people ties, our largest visa operation anywhere in the world is in Bangladesh, and our Bangladeshi friends constitute the largest number of tourist arrivals – by far – in India.
“In other words, a truly developed bilateral partnership is one where my interests are affected if your interests are not served, and vice versa. That is true mutualism and true symbiosis.”