Indo-Bangla jt communiqué to be made public soon

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday said the joint communiqué signed by the prime ministers of Bangladesh and India will be made public soon.

"It would be a public document soon. We believe in transparency and through practicing it religiously, we will prove that we are a pro-people government," she said.

Whatever the deal signed with the government of India is in the line and spirit of the election manifesto of Awami League.

Dipu Moni said this while addressing a roundtable on State visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India, organised by The Independent and the Centre for Foreign Affairs Studies in the capital.

The foreign minister said the Bangladesh-India joint communiqué marked a bold shift to the relations between the two countries, although a section of people is very much critical about it which is the outcome of their "mindset".

Terrorism is the main barrier to establishing a stable South Asia. To combat the terrorism, we are still crawling and lacking behind in coordination among the South Asian countries, she said.

“To combat the terrorism, the USA, the EU and other parts of the world are now working together. However, both Bangladesh and India have agreed that we need to join our hands together to fight terrorism as it is a great threat to Bangladesh also," Dipu Moni said.

The world is now working together for fighting against terrorism, hunger, disaster and poverty.

The visit should be evaluated from the South Asian context. It was not just a bilateral visit as the main focus of the trip was connectivity, she told the function.

The foreign minister said the water-sharing issue of the Teesta and other rivers, the Tipaimukh dam project and the maritime boundary did not come up for the discussion suddenly.

"What the opposition had been doing after 1975," she asked saying BNP was in power for twice, but they did not raise the issue.

Dipu Moni urged their political opponents not to oppose for the sake of opposition rather separate some national issues from the political agenda.

Taking part in the discussion, adviser to the BNP chairperson Reaz Rahman described the outcome of the summit very disappointing.

"They (India) gave us assurance, but we gave them clearance," he said.

Editor of The Independent Mahbubul Alam moderated the roundtable.

Foreign policy analysts and former diplomats, including barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud, ambassador Shafi Sami and Abul Hasan Chowdhury, took part in the discussion.