Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj believes that it is a responsibility of the government to create an environment conducive to the holding of an inclusive general election with participation of major political parties.
She said this in her meeting with prime minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday evening, according to people close to Hasina.
In a separate meeting with Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia, Sushma said that she believed India could not support the idea of holding general election under an unelected caretaker government, said people close to Khaleda.
Sushma said this as Khaleda insisted that the next general election should be held under a non-party caretaker government.
Sushma said that the point of organising elections under caretaker government was Bangladesh’s internal matter.
India, being a democratic country which holds elections under an elected government, cannot support the idea of holding general elections under an unelected caretaker government, she said, adding that it would be an aberration from democratic process.
Sushma, who was in Dhaka on an about 24-hour official tour starting from Sunday afternoon, left Dhaka Monday morning.
Apart from holding regular meeting in presence of ministers and officials, Sushma held a one-on-one meeting for about half-an-hour with Hasina, but there was no such meeting with Khaleda.
Hasina insisted in the meeting that Bangladesh wanted India’s political support for sustainable solutions of protracted Rohingya crisis.
Sushma said that Myanmar must take back its displaced nationals to Rakhine State.
Sushma said, at a function at the Indian High Commission on Monday, that Bangladesh got priority among all neighbours of India as per its neighbour-first policy.
‘Our foreign policy follows neighbourhood first approach. Parsi pehele, lekin Bangladesh sabse pehele (neighbours first, but Bangladesh comes first),’ she said, according to private news agency United News of Bangladesh.
Calling her Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali ‘brother and Dada’, Sushma assured Bangladesh of resolving all the issues transparently and sincerely.
She referred to the peaceful settlement of disputes over Maritime Boundary and Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh in the past.
Sushma was addressing a programme marking the inauguration of the new chancery complex of the Indian High Commission and launching of 15 development projects in Bangladesh funded by India at a cost of Tk 71.64 crore.
Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla described the achievements of the Indian High Commission here, including easy visa process and development projects.
Foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali, health minister Mohammed Nasim, environment and forests minister Anwar Hossain Manju, prime minister’s political affairs adviser HT Imam and foreign secretary M Shahidul Haque were also present.
A cultural programme showcasing the deep Bangladesh India relationship was also held before the Indian external affairs minister delivers her speech.
Sushma held 4th Joint Consultative Commission meeting on Sunday with her Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relationship between the two friendly neighbouring countries.
Source: New Age
