Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that his party believes that the ‘ice has started to melt’ with India after the takeover of an interim government following the student-led mass uprising that ousted the Sheikh Hasina regime on August 5.
An Indian daily, The Times of India, published the report on its website Wednesday evening from news agency ANI.
The report says that the BNP feels relations with India are warming up after a meeting between Fakhrul and Indian high commissioner Pranay Verma. The BNP has promised India that it will not allow Bangladesh territory to be used by Indian separatist groups if the party comes to power.
According to the report, the BNP, led by Khaleda Zia, who has served as prime minister for two terms earlier, has been critical of some of the initiatives and agreements concluded with India over the past 15 years during the tenure of Hasina.
Recently, in a significant political outreach, the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, Pranay Verma, held a meeting with BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at the BNP office to discuss strengthening relations.
Speaking to ANI, Fakhrul said that Verma’s visit had led to many positives for both countries.
‘There was a question about our relations since the last election in Bangladesh. But this time, the visit of the High Commissioner (of India) in our office, definitely improved the situation. Ice has started melting,’ the report quoted Fakhrul as saying.
The BNP had boycotted the Bangladesh parliamentary elections held in January 2024.
‘India and Bangladesh always have very good relations, and the relationship improved. Certainly, this is also one of the turning points of the relationship between India and Bangladesh,’ the report also quoted the BNP leader as saying.
‘We discussed the normal relationship between the two countries. We mentioned the water sharing issues, the border killings, and trade imbalances in existence. At the same time, India’s main issue was the security problem. We have assured that if we are in power, we will ensure that this land will not be used by the separatists,’ the report also quoted Fakhrul about his meeting with Verma.
‘The Bangladesh and India relationship had been very good all the times. But there was some misunderstanding regarding the relationship between BNP and India. I think that ice has started melting. I hope this [relationship] will be better this time. They [India] will try to understand our situation. We, especially, have reiterated that India should try to feel the pulse of the people of this country. They should not put all the eggs in one basket. They should develop relationships from people to people,’ the senior BNP leader was quoted as saying.
A step forward for Indo-Bangladesh relations came when external affairs minister Jasishankar met the foreign affairs advisor of the interim Bangladesh government, Md Touhid Hossain, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly.
‘Definitely, it is very significant. After this change in Bangladesh power politics, foreign advisor meeting Jaishankar, must be very significant and very important also, and we believe that relationship will be strengthened after this meeting,’ the BNP secretary general was also quoted as saying.
The BNP leader said that he was unaware whether the government had made any official request to India to send ousted prime minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina back to Bangladesh. ‘But I think that the former Prime Minister should come back to face the allegations against her, and she should be accountable.’
Meanwhile, the BNP said that it had alerted its units about the safety of the minority Hindu community in the country ahead of Durga Puja to be celebrated between October 9 and October 13. The celebrations would be held in 32,666 pavilions across Bangladesh.
‘We are very much concerned about the wrong narrative that the Hindu communities are facing a serious problem in Bangladesh. I don’t think that any serious problem is going on. After every change, there are some problems that are political, not religious or communal. Some events happened. These are all political in nature, not communal. But, we are very alert to safeguard the minority of our country. Specially, ahead of Puja, we have already instructed our units in throughout the country to be alert’, Fakhrul was further quoted as saying.
The report said that the BNP also believed that Bangladesh would soon make the transition from an interim government to a government elected democratically.
