Bangladesh, India must grow together

The destinies of Bangladesh and India are “inescapably intertwined” and they must “grow together”, said Bangladeshi High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali yesterday.

In a talk entitled “The Indo-Bangladesh Relationship –Moving beyond Strategic Partnership” at Army War College in Indore, he further said, “Bangladesh should take full advantage of the high growth of the Indian economy to further her own economic development. On the other hand, a strong and stable Bangladesh provides the best security guarantee for India.”

Defence engagement between the two countries has steadily been developing in recent years.

He also referred to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in last April when five memorandum of understandings were signed on defence cooperation covering fields of general cooperation, training exchange and procurement, defence financing, and medical cooperation and knowledge sharing between the top defence institutes of the two countries, said a press release of Bangladeshi High Commission in New Delhi.

The envoy noted that 17 officers of Bangladesh Army attended different courses in the Army War College in last two years and another two are likely to arrive late this year.

Muazzem also dwelt on the areas in which Bangladesh and India are making good progress including cooperation in security, energy, connectivity, coastal shipping, river management and water sharing, trade and commerce, and people-to-people contacts.

On security, the high commissioner reiterated Hasina’s principled position against terrorism.

Bangladesh, he said, also expects reciprocity from its neighbours.