India, B’desh working hard to make PM’s visit success

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is leaving for Dhaka tomorrow to prepare ground for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh in September, would be making an extra effort to reassure India’s commitment of friendship to it, following furore over Dr Singh’s remarks.
The Opposition parties there were leaving no stone unturned to exploit some remarks of Dr Singh which were made in an interaction with the editors.
Dr Singh’s remarks were about the presence of some anti-India elements in Bangladesh. Though they were expunged from the records, the PMO inadvertently put them on its website.
However, India finds a common meeting ground with the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League Government in the latter’s fight against terrorist and radical elements.
In fact, both the sides are working hard to play down the controversy over Dr Singh’s remarks and make his visit a success.
Moreover, Congress President Sonia Gandhi is also reported to have accepted an invitation to visit Dhaka to take part in an international conference.
Dr Singh called Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over phone last night to tell her that India attached great importance to her country.
The two Governments announced the date of the Prime Minister’s visit the same day in a bid to mellow down the controversy.
In Dhaka, the Bangladesh Government said the visit “is expected to infuse fresh dynamism into the multi-faceted, multi-dimensional relationship between the two countries.” “The two sides have been working towards making the visit by the Indian Prime Minister a successful and a fruitful one,” it said.
Mr Krishna has denied that he would have to do some damage-control exercise in Dhaka, and said “The prime minister has been one of the consistent champions of India-Bangladesh relations.” “We remain committed to forging a stronger and enduring relationship with the people and the government of Bangladesh,” he stressed.
After Sheikh Hasina won the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh on December 28, 2008 and assumed office of Prime Minister on January 6, 2009 for the second time, Indo-Banlga relations have been improving fast. The bilateral ties got a new impetus with her visit to India in 2010.
The relations between New Delhi and Dhaka started deteriorating during the second tenure of the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in 2001-06. That was the time when Islamic radicals started gaining ground in Bangladesh. The relations turned from bad to worse during Begum Zia’s second tenure.
However, with the return of Sheikh Hasina to power in 2009, the trajectory of Indo-Bangla relations has been quite different. There have been series of high-level visits between the countries since then, starting from her own to India in 2010, when in a joint communique, India promised help to Bangladesh in several areas impacting its economic interest.
Later Vice-President Hamid Ansari paid a two-day visit to Bangladesh to attend the inaugural function of the 150th year of Rabindranath Tagore’s birth.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was in Dhaka last month for preparatory meeting in connection with Mr Krishna’s visit.
Since Sheikh Hasina’s visit, the countries have identified a number of infrastructure developmental projects to be undertaken under the 1 billion dollar line of credit extended by India, including for Bangladesh Railways, and procurement of buses for Dhaka city.
There was also progress on issues relating to river waters sharing, land boundary, provision of 250 MW of power from India to Bangladesh and facilitation of 24-hour access to Bangladesh nationals through the Tin Bigha Corridor.
Mr Krishna and his Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni would be reviewing the decisions taken during Sheikh Hasina’s trip to India last winter.