India’s approach towards Bangladesh in the coming months will be “largely problem solving”, its High Commissioner in Dhaka has said.
Pankaj Saran on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already conveyed to Bangladesh’s Speaker that “he was committed to maintaining and building upon the momentum of the relationship”.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury met Modi in New Delhi after the swearing-in ceremony in May.
File Photo
Saran said Modi’s comment was “significant” and he told the Speaker straightaway that “I am going to do what has been done and I am also going to build upon it”.
The High Commissioner was speaking at a reception he hosted for senior journalists, teachers, and members of the civil society in Dhaka.
This was his first interaction after the new government took office in Delhi.
Earlier in an interview, he told bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi that the new government in Delhi would honour all the sovereign commitments given to Bangladesh.
The High commissioner on Friday said in the coming months “you will see definite step up in the momentum of interaction, exchanges and the approach is going to be largely problem solving”.
“This is the nature (problem solving) of the new government in Delhi.”
He did not specify any recent visit, but Dhaka was preparing to welcome the new foreign minister Sushma Swaraj this month.
Teesta water-sharing treaty and ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement were the major unresolved issues in the last five years of Dhaka-Delhi ties which were often described to be “the best” in history.
“I think you will see some progress in issues that bothered the relationship,” the high commissioner said.
The solution of those issues was “political” and it depended in the internal political configuration in India, according to the top Indian diplomat in Bangladesh.
He said decision-making was hampered during the Congress-led government due to “much weaker government and much more reliance on the alliances”.
“We had a situation when there was a political desire to move forward but perhaps not the ability to move forward,” Saran remarked.
“This time around, with a strong government with overwhelming majority hopefully we will be able to see some resolutions,” the envoy said.
Source: Bd news24
