India is keen to reach out to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the face of recent setbacks in the bilateral relations between the two countries, Kolkata-based the Telegraph has said in a report.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Foreign Ministry has confirmed Hasina will meet her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on Sept 28 in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Unresolved issues would top the agenda during the talks, officials in the ministry say.
Apart from that meeting, according to the Telegraph report, India in its efforts to sustain the benefits achieved in its relationship to Hasina’s government are lining up a series of visits by ministers and high-ranking officials to Bangladesh.
K Rahman Khan, Minister for India’s Minority Affairs, just left Dhaka on Sept 18 after a four-day visit and at the same time BSF Director General Subhash Joshi leading his delegation finished a cooperation conference with BGB chief Major General Aziz Ahmed in Dhaka.
Senior officials from the India’s finance ministry are also scheduled to soon arrive in Dhaka to resolve some issues over customs duties India levies on a few Bangladeshi imports.
Top officials of the Indian government admit that the efforts are to dispel the feeling of discontent hurting the overall bilateral ties between the neighbours after Indian Parliament failed to even consider the land boundary agreement, the implementation of which would have been a sure boost for the Awami League-led government as it heads towards a crucial national election.
“We want to maintain the momentum in our relationship,” the Telegraph quoted an Indian official as saying. “These high-level exchanges demonstrate our commitment to the strengthened ties, a commitment that isn’t limited to any one issue.”
Bangladesh was expecting that the Indian government would at least introduce a bill in the monsoon session of Parliament for a constitutional amendment to ratify the Land Boundary Agreement as agreed upon by the two nations during Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in 2011.
India’s foreign minister Salman Khurshid, however, was prevented from introducing the amendment in the Rajya Sabha – the upper house of Indian Parliament—each time he tried during the monsoon session. It was first obstructed by the BJP and then by Trinamul and the Asom Gana Parishad.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, on a visit to New Delhi in July, had met the BJP’s Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, to seek his party’s support for the pact.
The agreement means there would be a direct swap of enclaves each nation claims are embedded inside the territory of the other.
A Bangladeshi diplomat admitted to the Telegraph that the failure of the Indian government to even introduce the bill in Parliament was a major setback. The Awami League is termed as pro-India in its policies as opposed to her arch rival BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
New Delhi has also not kept its side of bargain to sign a treaty for an equitable share of Teesta River water.
Telegrapn writes that New Delhi is hoping Dhaka will recognise other initiatives like easing visa restrictions and exempting most Bangladeshi imports from tariffs. India has also converted Rs 200 crore of a Rs 1,000-crore loan it awarded Bangladesh into a grant, and has already disbursed most of the aid.
Source: Bd news24
