Foreign Minister S Jaishankar is out to strengthen the country's relations with its neighbour. He decided to make a hurricane tour in Bangladesh and Bhutan—the countries which are increasingly being noticed by China.
During his visit to Dhaka, Jaishankar held bilateral talks with the foreign minister of Bangladesh Dr A K Abdul Momen and later he met with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.
Both the meetings have been considered by Bangladesh as “extremely fruitful” and “very progressive”.
Jaishankar’s visit to Bangladesh was highly appreciated by the Bangladesh government as the Modi government decided to celebrate the 50 years of birth of Bangladesh as a new nation and the centenary year of Mujibur Rahaman, the father of the nation.
The Bangladesh government particularly appreciated that Modi visited Bangladesh amid the Covid pandemic.
“Both the Foreign Ministers noted that 2021 was a landmark year for the Bangladesh-India relationship as the President and Prime Minister of India visited Bangladesh in a single year and both the countries celebrated the 50th year of diplomatic ties through the joint celebration of several landmark events across the world,” said the foreign ministry of Bangladesh in a statement.
The two foreign ministers have also discussed the modalities of the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India. Hasina’s visit to India is, however, being held back by her determination to sign the Teesta water treaty as early as possible.
Sources said that Bangladesh foreign minister Momen had hard-pressed the Teesta issue with Jaishankhar, which has been obstructed due to a “domestic issue” in India being the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s vehement objection.
“Both the Foreign Ministers expressed satisfaction with the ongoing cooperation between the countries and discussed the possible dates of the visit of the Hon'ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh to India to further cement the ties. They underlined the necessity of holding the next round of Joint Consultation Commission (JCC) meetings at the earliest convenience of both sides. Both the Foreign Ministers stressed on following up the decisions taken at the highest level for their effective implementation for mutual benefit”, said the statement.
“The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh recalled that the two countries had resolved many of the outstanding issues in the spirit of friendship and cooperation and expressed hope that all outstanding issues including the early signing of the Teesta Water Sharing Treaty (TWST) may be concluded at an early date,” said the foreign ministry of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh government has admitted that Hasina’s visit and subsequent cooperation would all depend on the signing of TWST.
Momen also asked Jaishankar for his support in the “repatriation of Rohingyas who are forcibly displaced from Myanmar”.
Bangladesh government would soon begin the process of repatriation which the Myanmar government would not want. So, it wants India to pressure the Myanmar government to accept the Rohingyas immediately.
In the meeting with Hasina, the Bangladesh prime minister dangled the carrot of access to the Chittagong port to S Jaishankar. The use of the Chittagong port would be crucial for India as it would enable India to access South East Asia directly through the Northeastern states of India. These issues were being discussed in several meetings between Modi and Hasina but it was all held back due to the non-implementation of repatriation of Rohingya in Bangladesh which Bangladesh would like to begin as soon as possible.
Jaishankar told Hasina that opening such a corridor would prove to be beneficial for Bangladesh's economy too.
“Dr Jaishankar appreciated Bangladesh for the transformative socio-economic development under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He emphasized promoting trade, commerce and connectivity, especially in the light of supply chain disruption resulting from Covid-19 restrictions and the recent conflict in Ukraine. He assured of India's cooperation in resolving some of the concerns of Bangladesh including the early repatriation of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to their country of origin,” said the MEA in Bangladesh.
The MEA in Bangladesh also said that Jaishankar also stressed on early and timely completion of some of the projects funded by India and the need for sub-regional cooperation in all matters, particularly in the energy sector.
Jaishankhar landed in Paro in Bhutan on Friday and will hold a series of meetings with the Bhutan ministry of foreign affairs and the prime minister of Bhutan.