Rohingya crisis: ‘Dhaka to convey strong message to Delhi’

Foreign Minister Ak Abdul Momen today said Dhaka wants to convey a strong message to Delhi that a prolonged Rohingya crisis could heighten regional instability and hamper peace and development.

“India is a good friend of both Bangladesh and Myanmar. It has investments in both the countries. However, if the Rohingya crisis prolongs, there may be pockets of radicalization,” he said.

“We want to convey this message to India,” he said at a press briefing as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina embarks on a four-day visit to India tomorrow.

The PM’s visit, the first one after her re-election, comes after visits to China in July and Japan in May when Rohingya crisis was one of the most important issues of discussion as the country faces formidable challenge of sheltering some 1.1 million Rohingya.

Of them, 743,000 fled military atrocities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since August 2017. Despite two attempts of repatriation, the Rohingyas refused to return to Myanmar saying they don’t have guarantee of citizenship and safety.  UN too says the conditions in Rakhine are not conducive for return.

Abdul Momen said Bangladesh would call on India to play a strong role in repatriation of the Rohingyas.

On October 3-4, PM Hasina will co-chair the Indian Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum with Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, Executive Vice Chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Shobana Kamineni, Managing Director of Sequoia Capital, India Shailendra Singh and UN Women representative Sania Mirza.

The summit will host more than 800 leaders from 40 countries, comprising senior public figures and leading representatives from civil society, arts and culture, science, business and academia. Hasina is expected to highlight the achievements of Bangladesh over the last decade and the challenges it faces today.

On October 5, Hasina will hold a meeting with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they will discuss issues that would include cooperation on stopping deaths of Bangladeshis in the Indo-Bangla borders and  smuggling, easing of Indian visa regime for the Bangladeshis, enhancing cooperation on preventing terrorism and peace in the region, promoting trade and connectivity.

Bangladesh side will raise the issues of anti-dumping measures imposed on Bangladesh’s export products to India and withdrawal of anti-circumvention duty. The two countries may also sign a standard operating procedure on use of Chattogram and Mongla ports for transporting Indian goods through Bangladesh.

“We will discuss on a joint initiative for the best use of the Ganges treaty. Besides, we will discuss on a framework agreement on Teesta and seven other common rivers,” Momen said.