Monday | 7 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Monday | 7 October 2024 | Epaper

In My View

Hasina’s India visit takes Bangladesh-India relations to new heights

Published : Friday, 9 September, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 739
Syed Badiuzzaman
The pictures of the two prime ministers were perfect and self-explanatory. And their body language was even clearer. They were enough to indicate the outcome of the bilateral talks between the leaders of Bangladesh and India. No one should have any misgiving about the accomplishments of Sheikh Hasina's four-day state visit to India. Probably it achieved a lot more than expected.

Even though the visit took place in the wake of a controversial and politically   embarrassing comment by Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen that reportedly sought India's assistance in the continuation of Sheikh Hasina's government in Bangladesh, it couldn't overshadow the prime minister's India visit. Rather the visit received all the honors and etiquettes it deserved being the one by the head of the government of India's most important ally in the entire South Asia.

As the prime minister's special plane carrying her entourage touched down at New Delhi's Palam airport, she was accorded a warm welcome. Red carpet was rolled out while six Indian girls danced to greet Sheikh Hasina in a carefully choreographed event as she walked on the tarmac. She was received at the airport by Union Minister of State Darshana Jardosh. As per Indian protocol, the prime minister of India usually does not come to the airport to receive foreign dignitaries.

Narendra Modi, however, broke protocol on a previous occasion and came to the airport himself to receive Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina because of a warm relation between the two leaders of the neighboring countries. Also on few other previous occasions, the Indian prime minister broke the traditional protocol of the country and came to airport to greet several other foreign leaders including former U.S. President Barack Obama and the crown prince of the UAE.

Soon after the arrival of the Bangladesh prime minister in India, Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India tweeted this: "Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina is warmly welcomed by MoS Railways and Textiles@Darshana Jardosh on her arrival in New Delhi for a State Visit. The visit will further strengthen the multifaceted relationship between the two countries. Bagchi's observation was accurate. The visit will promote relations between the two close neighbors.

Let us now take a look at the real issue -- what the visit of Sheikh Hasina has actually accomplished and also what it could not. Right on the second day of her visit, officials of the two countries headed by herself and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi held a successful bilateral meeting during which they discussed several issues of mutual interests including investment, trade and commerce, power and energy, water sharing of common rivers, border management, drug smuggling and security cooperation.

Then the officials of the two countries signed as many as seven agreements including an important accord on sharing of water from the border river of Kushiyara running between Sylhet, Bangladesh and Assam, India. The two countries also signed agreements for scientific cooperation between the scientists and industrial research experts of the two countries and also for cooperation in the areas of space technology between Bangladesh and India.

The prime ministers of both countries also inaugurated a $2 billion thermal power plant -- Unit 1 of the 1320 MW Maitree (Friendship) Project in Khulna. And as Narendra Modi mentioned in his remarks, the plant will increase the availability of affordable electricity in Bangladesh at a time when rising energy prices are posing a major challenge to all developing countries in the world. He said talks were already underway for connecting power transmission lines between Bangladesh and India.

As Bangladesh Foreign Affairs State Minister Shahriar Alam has noted, the big achievement of the India visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sealing the deal on sharing of water from the Kushiyara River which runs right along the border between Bangladesh and India. The agreement will allow Bangladesh to withdraw water from this river that will be used for cultivation of various agricultural crops by Bangladeshi farmers in Sylhet region. It is expected to bring economic benefit to the area.

However, the visit could not achieve any breakthrough with regard to the water-sharing of the Teesta River, an outstanding dispute between the two countries for a long time. Bangladesh and India had reached an agreement in 2011 for sharing of water from the Teesta but the deal was cancelled at the last moment due to an objection from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, however, held out hope for resolution of all outstanding issues with India including sharing of water from the Teesta River at "an early date."

An additional agreement was signed between the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in presence of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the third day of her visit to expand trade and investment between the two countries. After talks between the two sides a day before, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two countries will soon begin discussions for a free trade agreement for further growth of the volume of trade between them. India is Bangladesh's second largest trading partner.  

Aside from the bilateral issues, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussed the Rohingya problem with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during their talks at Hydrabad House in New Delhi and India said it supports every effort for the safe and speedy repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. During a press briefing following the talks between the two prime ministers, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said: "India has always played a positive role in Rohingya issues." Sheikh Hasina urged the Indian government to use its leverage over Myanmar for a quick repatriation of the refugees.

During this visit of Sheikh Hasina, Indian leaders didn't shy away from raising the issue of terrorism and radicalization and also the issue of repeated attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. Highlighting the need for strengthening cooperation between India and Bangladesh against terrorism and radicalization during the bilateral talks in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for jointly fighting forces that are seeking to destroy the mutual trust and friendship between India and Bangladesh. "Such cooperation is important to keep the spirit of 1971 alive," Modi said.

Even though no accord could be reached on sharing of water from the Teesta River, the overall India visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was quite successful. Bangladesh-India relations improved since Sheikh Hasina returned to power in 2009. Currently, the relation is excellent and this visit of Sheikh Hasina is sure to further strengthen it. As Sheikh Hasina said, Bangladeshis will always remember the contribution India made during the liberation war. India's contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh is a historical fact. Denial of this truth amounts to the denial of the true history of the birth of our country.

Bangladesh is the most important and trusted country to India. Similarly India is also the most important and trusted country to Bangladesh. Bangladesh-India relations have grown steadily over the last 50 years and will continue to grow the same or even faster way. Those who say Sheikh Hasina has returned empty-handed from India have, in fact, turned a blind eye to the accomplishments of her visit to that country. In today's digital world, everything is crystal clear to everybody. People cannot be misled so easily anymore, nor can the truth be suppressed by falsehood.
The writer is a Toronto-based
journalist who also writes for the Toronto Sun as a guest columnist







LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Omicron BF.7
2022 stories that could still have an impact on our lives
Dealing environment with data
Foreign interference in internal affairs
Management factor in our health sector
Diplomatic norms and code of conduct through the lens of international law
Dealing air pollution in winter
Germany to suspend humanitarian aid for Afghanistan
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝