Trust at new heights
Outgoing Indian envoy Pankaj Saran has said a new trust and mutual understanding have developed between India and Bangladesh in the last few years which had helped resolve most difficult pending issues.
“This has been a very important stage of our relations. I have been fortunate to be present at a time when the relations have developed in many directions and we have been able to make progress on issues which were stuck for decades,” he said.
The trust and understanding made it easier to resolve the land boundary issue, he said during an interaction with a group of journalists at Indira Gandhi Culture Centre (IGCC) yesterday afternoon.
Saran also made it clear that India would always deal with the “government of the day”, and added that there had been no change in the stance India took on January 5, 2014, elections in Bangladesh.
“We are dealing today with the government of the day. This has been our policy and this continues to be our policy. India will always deal with the government of the day,” he added.
The Indian diplomat, who discharged his diplomatic assignment in Bangladesh for four years and would leave for Russia to join as India's next ambassador there, said it had been “a real privilege” for him to serve as the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla, currently the Indian Ambassador to Thailand, has been appointed as the next Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh and he was expected to take over in mid January.
Saran said the implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement showed that India and Bangladesh could resolve “the most difficult issue”.
“We have been able to narrow down our differences and open new areas of cooperation in this period,” he said.
Replying to a question on security, the Indian envoy said the threat from the IS or ISIL was a global one and this was something almost every country in the world had agreed to confront.
“And India is no exception. We ourselves taking whatever necessary measures there are to counter this threat. I presume the government of Bangladesh is doing the same,” he added.
On security cooperation, he said Bangladesh and India had a very good relationship on “day to day” security cooperation.
Saran said the future of India-Bangladesh relations would focus on economy, trade, investment, connectivity and issues like energy, environment, health and food sufficiency that affect the people.
Responding to another question, he said he was able to see the transition of the relation to a higher level in almost every single sector but lamented that there had been some decision-implementation challenges for both sides.
Praising Bangladesh, he said Bangladesh had become a far more mature and self-confident country than before and every single power of the world want to have good relations with Bangladesh.
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