Amid intensified diplomatic tensions between the two neighbours, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Saturday said they expect to establish a good relationship with India accepting the reality in the context of the post-August 5 changed situation.
“We want to remain optimistic that we would be able to establish a good relationship with India making sure that both sides’ interests are protected,” he said, flagging issues of water sharing and border killings which remain unaddressed.
The Adviser was speaking at a roundtable titled “Bangladesh-India Relations: Expectations, Barriers and Future.”
The South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) and the Department of Political Science & Sociology (PSS), North South University hosted the event at the syndicate hall of NSU.
Hossain said Bangladesh had some concerns and there are still some concerns that remain unaddressed while the previous government tried its best to address the concerns of India.
He believes that India will proceed realising the changed situation but acknowledged that there are barriers which are normal in any relationship. “There is a change in the relations after August 5. This is reality.”
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Talking about water-sharing issues, Hossain said there has been no progress over the Teesta water-sharing treaty. “We would want to see progress there.”
Regarding border killings, the adviser said they always spoke strongly about such incidents and he even talked about it face to face with the Indian officials. “This (border killing) is no way acceptable.”
Hossain said this is the only border (Bangladesh-India border) in the world where people are shot to death despite the fact that the two countries are not involved in a war. “It’s not seen anywhere in the world."
He said India has to fix it and if anyone commits crimes, they can be tried in court. “Why should they be killed?"
Hossain said the Indian media dangerously and aggressively engaged against Bangladesh since August 5 and the role they have played is in no way conducive to maintaining a normal relationship between Bangladesh and India.
“They (Indian media) know why they are doing this. Here, our media has a role to play,” said the adviser, highlighting the importance of fact-checking and bringing up the facts as well as proper coverage of the foreign ministry statements.
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“It’s absolutely your decision (Bangladesh media’s coverage on MoFA statements). I am not saying that you have to do this but I am talking about people’s desire,” Hossain said.
The adviser highlighted the importance of national consensus on foreign policy and noted that Bangladesh could not gain much due to lack of national consensus.
He said India needs to address Bangladesh's concerns and would help improve the relations between the neighbours.
Hossain said Bangladesh also needs to enhance its capacity both domestically and internationally with skilled human resources, and questioned the quality of education in some rural institutions from where many are getting degrees without learning anything.
According to him, at least five percent of the GDP should go to the education sector consistently.
"Bangladeshis working in the Middle East are paid much less than that of the other countries just because of the lack of adequate skills and English communication ability," he added.
The panelists of the roundtable were Barrister Asaduzzaman Fuaad, joint member secretary, AB Party, Saquib Ali, former diplomat, Lt Gen (retd) Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman, former Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division, Prof Dr Mohammad Abdur Rob, Vice-Chancellor, Manarat International University, and Dr SM Asaduzzaman Ripon, Vice Chairman, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The roundtable was chaired by Prof Abdul Hannan Chowdhury, Vice-Chancellor, North South University, and moderated by Dr M Jashim Uddin, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science & Sociology (PSS), North South University.