AFTER the much talked visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj it is worth analyzing where the Bangladesh-India relation stands. The Indian spokesperson brushed aside the idea of its involvement in the internal political issues of Bangladesh, saying that these were issues that needed to be addressed and resolved by the Bangladeshis. India said, governments work with governments.” The Indian government would work with the government of Bangladesh,” an official spokesperson of India said. Summarising the outcome of Sushma’s visit, the spokesperson said there was a desire that India and Bangladesh move ahead to address each other’s concerns and to work in a spirit of good neighbourliness.
Before that Sushma said that the new Indian government wanted to boost relations with the people of Bangladesh but not with a certain political party or certain government. She stressed that the new Indian government was trying to build up people to people relations in the spirit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation. Sushma reportedly said that the Indian government would take new initiatives so that the people of South Asia could work together peacefully in a democratic atmosphere.
We expect, the new government of Modi as people’s leader and fighter of corruption will not take advantage of the weakness of the corrupt politicians in any neighbouring country. The Congress government was anxious to show that Bangladesh was most obliging to it and it did not matter what the people of Bangladesh thought.
We still believe Awami League would not have gone for exclusive and authoritarian kind of election denying the people of their voting right without direct interference and encouragement from the Congress government. The people to people relationship between the two countries can never be one sided. India has expectations from Bangladesh and Bangladesh has also expectations from India.
