Dhaka wants to develop new relationship with India: Humayun Kabir

Bangladesh prime minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir today (6 April) emphasised the need to strengthen people-to-people ties with India beyond one-person-driven engagement, saying Bangladesh wants to develop a new relationship with India, ending Hasina-era type relations with the neighboring country.

“It’s a new relationship between Bangladesh and India. There is nothing like Hasina’s Awami League in Bangladesh now. Hasina is non-existent. She died politically long ago,” he told reporters after a meeting between Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma.

The meeting comes ahead of Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman’s scheduled visit to New Delhi starting tomorrow (7 April).

During the trip, he is expected to meet Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and hold talks with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

Adviser Humayun said that sustained openness and candid dialogue between the two sides could help address several longstanding challenges.

At the meeting with PM Tarique, Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma reaffirmed India’s intent to work together with the government and the people of Bangladesh in a “positive, constructive and forward-looking manner” based on mutual interest and mutual benefit.

They discussed bilateral engagement with a focus on people-centric cooperation in multiple domains aligned with the national development priorities of the two countries, said the High Commission after the meeting.

The discussions focused on enhancing cooperation in a wide range of areas, including public health, financial inclusion, women’s empowerment, rural development, bilateral trade and investment, ease of doing business, technology partnerships, and power and energy cooperation.

The high commissioner underlined that India-Bangladesh cooperation should transform their geographical proximity into new opportunities by strengthening economic and connectivity linkages and enhancing cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The foreign minister is scheduled to depart for New Delhi tomorrow afternoon (7 April) before continuing on to Mauritius.

Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir will accompany him during the New Delhi leg of the visit.