Sagar Biswas :
Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali will start his three-day visit to India today [Tuesday] apparently to find better prospects and opportunities for his country to secure a strong position in geo-economics and geo-politics of this region.
Initially, the FM will join the much publicised Raisina Dialogue 2016 which is organised by the External Affairs Ministry of India and the leading think-tank Observer Research Foundation [ORF] to be held in New Delhi from March 1-3.
But sources close to the MoFA told The New Nation on Monday that Mahmood Ali is expected to hold a meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue where both sides may raise important bilateral issues, especially security, terrorism and economy. Echoing the same, Bangladesh High Commissioner in India Syed Muazzem Ali also told the media that there is a bright possibility of sideline talks between the two Foreign Ministers of the two neighbouring countries over some vital issues.
“Present Bangladesh – India relations are at their ‘best’ since ’74. Now, it needs to expedite the process of economic integration of two countries….. We will not spend our time resolving the past issues, rather we must look into the future,” the diplomat said.
In this backdrop, Indian media on Monday reported that Mahmood Ali is going to Delhi in the backdrop of the ongoing crackdown by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government on the radical groups in the country.
The report said that visit of Mahmood Ali is being watched with interest as it comes during the countrywide counter-terror operation by the Bangladesh government which led to the arrest of three activists of the banned Jamaat’ul Mujahideen Bangladesh, who are suspected of murdering a prominent Hindu priest on February 21.
Quoting unknown sources, the Indian media also reported that attempts are on to have a bilateral dialogue between Mahmood Ali and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on mutual interest.
Meanwhile, about the Raisina dialogue the ORF in its agenda paper said, “It is predicated on India’s vital role in the Indian Ocean region and how India along with its partners in the region and beyond can build a stable and prosperous world order.”
“The 2016 conclave will focus on Asia’s physical, economic, human and digital connectivity and will attempt to discover opportunities and challenges for the region to manage its common spaces, as well as the global partnerships needed to develop common pathways in this century,” it said.
At the inaugural panel on March 1, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will be joined by former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga, former Seychellois president James Mancham and Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali.
Among other leaders and luminaries from abroad who are expected to attend the conclave are Member of the European Parliament from Germany Jakob von Weizsacker, former Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing, Member of Russian Parliament Vyacheslav Nikonov, Commander of the US Pacific Command Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Yasumasa Nagamine, former head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security Amrullah Saleh, US Ambassador to India Richard Verma and US Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Manpreet Singh Anand.
Across multiple sessions on March 2 and 3, panellists will discuss issues ranging from the challenges confronting the Eurozone that continues to see slow growth to the need to create smart borders that will allow enhanced trans-border movement of people, goods and ideas and minimise potential cross-border security challenges.
