Bangladesh will maintain good relations with the neibouring India, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said.
The PM has expressed her firm optimism during her interaction with the local Japanese media at the National Press Club of Japan on Wednesday morning, reports BSS.
She said any problem could be solved with its neighbours, including India, through bilateral discussion.
“We will be able to maintain a good relationship with India….he (Modi) has own ideas, now he has become the Indian prime minister and I hope that he, as the prime minister, would also play his role to maintain good relations with neighbours,” Hasina said.
Sheikh Hasina has made the remarks when a Japanese journalist asked whether there would be any obstacle to Bangladesh-India ties after Narendra Modi became the new prime minister.
“It’s very natural that you may have differences about policy. But, if there is any problem, you could solve it through bilateral discussions,” she added.
In this connection, she cited the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with India in her first tenure in 1997 overcoming the long-standing dispute as well as signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord ending the two-decade insurgency.
“Our foreign policy is very clear — friendship to all and malice to none. Since we’ve formed the government, we’ve found good relationship with our neighbours,” she added.
The prime minister said that India has also a foreign policy and hoped that they would follow the policy.
In this connection, she said that in her three terms, she had worked with four different political parties that formed government in India and the latest Modi government is the fifth one.
She said: “How to protect peoples’ safety and security and ensure well being. I know that India is a big country and may be we’re small geographically.”
“But, considering population, we’re a big country. Bangladesh is an independent sovereign country and definitely we’ve to ensure independence, sovereignty and security of our people.”
The prime minister said that she always values friendship with the neighbouring countries.
“I always use to say that our common enemy is poverty and we’ve to fight the poverty together.”
The premier went on saying: “I always give importance to neighbouring countries so that we can cooperate with each other to ensure economic development and economic emancipation of our people.”
In reply to a question whether Bangladesh would extend its support to Japan in the non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council, the prime minister said Bangladesh and Japan are two friendly countries and Dhaka greatly values its friendship with Tokyo.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
