Though the relationship between India and Bangladesh is at its best and the two countries currently share great warmth in their relations, India should take some more steps for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh to sustain the warmth, opined members of a delegation of journalists from Bangladesh.
Though the relationship between India and Bangladesh is at its best and the two countries currently share great warmth in their relations, India should take some more steps for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh to sustain the warmth, opined members of a delegation of journalists from Bangladesh.
Participating in an interaction at Observer Research Foundation on Friday, May 6, 2011, the visiting journalists were unanimous in their view that their country has always been much faster in meeting their promises while India moved at a slow pace. They urged India to show reciprocity in delivering the promises made to their country. They also urged the civil society in India to take the initiative and persuade the government to move faster to resolve outstanding issues between the two countries.
Referring to the big gap in the trade balance, the journalists said this was a major issue which needed to be resolved. They suggested that the issue could be resolved to a great extent if Bangladeshi products were given access to Indian markets, especially in the North Eastern states. They said the business community in Bangladesh was very keen to sell their products in North Eastern states. Another issue which they thought needed immediate attention was the resolution of Teesta water sharing.
The journalists said there was lots enthusiasm over Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina’s visit to India in January 2010. There were expectations of some major breakthroughs in resolving the bilateral issues like Teesta water shiring, demarcation of the boundary, trade gap, etc. And when she returned without any major breakthroughs, the Prime Minister was criticised by the Opposition as well as some of her own party colleagues. There was a detailed scrutiny of the gains and losses of the two countries after her visit and the feeling now in Bangladesh was that India’s gains were much more than that of Bangladesh.
Chairing the interaction, Mr. Dilip Lahiri, Distinguished Fellow, ORF, said that it was an interesting time in the India-Bangladesh relations. He said the Bangladeshi Prime Minister visited India in January 2010 and it resulted in a joint communiqué which was a landmark in the bilateral relations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be visiting Bangladesh later this year. Pointing out that the coming to power of Sheikh Hasina had aroused big hope about the future of the bilateral relation, Mr. Lahiri appreciated the hard steps taken by the Prime Minister against militants groups. Referring to the economic progress being made by Bangladesh, Mr. Lahiri hoped that it would soon be heading towards BRICS.
(This report was prepared by Dr. Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, Associate Fellow, Observer Research Foundation)
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