This weekend’s visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents a watershed moment in Bangladesh-India relations.
By his actions in office in building relations with China and the United States, Mr Modi has shown a strong willingness and capacity to overcome past bottlenecks in order to advance friendly relations and get new deals done.
In bringing the same fresh approach and extending similar co-operation during his first visit to Dhaka, Modi’s trip should greatly help to improve our own bilateral relations.
His success in persuading India’s parliament to implement the long delayed Land Boundary Agreement has been of key symbolic as well as practical importance to Bangladesh.
It is helping to change the tone of mutual caution and suspicion which has held back progress in the past.
We trust his meetings with different political and business leaders and visits to national monuments, will build more goodwill and pave the way for closer and stronger ties.
Bangladesh and India share a common geography and history. It is important that both countries learn to treat these shared ties as a help and not a hindrance to enhancing trade and people to people links.
We hope this week’s meetings will succeed in allowing our governments to work more closely together for the benefit of both our countries.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
