Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit on March 26 is aimed at “consolidating” the bilateral relations and taking it further forward for the next 50 years.
“The objective of the visit is of course to consolidate our friendship and to build it forward for next 50 years,” India’s High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami said on Monday while replying to a question.
He was speaking at the DCAB talk organised by Diplomatic Correspondent Association of Bangladesh (DCAB) in Dhaka. DCAB President Pantho Rahaman and General Secretary AKM Moinuddin also spoke at the event held at Jatiya Press Club.
Modi is expected to visit Dhaka on March 26 at the invitation of his counterpart Sheikh Hasina to join the 50th anniversary celebration of Independence of Bangladesh and the Birth Centenary of Bangladesh’s Founding Father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 50th year of bilateral ties.
India recognised in Bangladesh even before the victory on December 16 in 1971.
The visit, however, is not formally announced yet.
“We haven’t formally announced the visit, but it is planned that the Prime Minister will be here to join you in celebrating the most momentous anniversary on the calendar,” the High Commissioner said while highlighting different aspects of bilateral relations including connectivity, river water sharing and border management.
Despite Covid-19 pandemic, India issues 16, 00 visas per day from Bangladesh.
Replying to a question, the envoy said India never shows any ‘big-brother’ attitude towards Bangladesh.
“For us, the friendship with Bangladesh is the cornerstone of our foreign policy. How could we be acting in a big brotherly way? Honestly speaking, Bangladesh is a big country with 170 million people. So, there’s no reason to have this apprehension”.
He said the relationship between the two countries is based on history, friendship based on respect and affection and the two countries share so many things.
“We share the responsibility to take forward this relationship.”
He also said that a “strong, stable, prosperous and flourishing Bangladesh is in India’s fundamental national interest”.
“Your development is good for us. There’s absolutely no doubt in anybody’s mind about this. There’s a bipartisan consensus in India about the importance of Bangladesh,” he said.
“Bangladesh remains one of the most important relationships and every government and each Prime Minister of India invested in the best possible ties with Bangladesh. Both sides must benefit from our relationship. This is exactly what we’re committed to doing. We want a stronger development partnership with Bangladesh; expand our relations in trade as trade has to be the future, stronger people-to-people ties and every sector of human activities,” the envoy said.
He also reiterated India’s commitment to complete the Teesta water sharing deal which will require internal consensus between the central and the West Bengal government.
“Our government is committed to the highest level (regarding Teesta). Our friends also need to understand this is not a matter on which the government of Delhi (central government) has a single say. It does require bringing all the stakeholders on board,” he said.
He also reiterated India’s position to bring down the border incidents to a zero level, and said it was important that both sides work together to prevent violent clashes.
