Bangladesh needs good ties with India but it should be based on equity: Yunus
Yunus stresses importance of reviving SAARC; Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser “surprised” over Rajnath Singh’s remarks about possible conflict
The Bangladesh interim government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has said that his country wants to maintain good relations with India but it should be based on equity and fairness.
Yunus (84) made the remarks on Sunday (September 8) while responding to a question at a meeting with students who had participated in the student-people revolution that ousted Sheikh Hasina as the prime minister last month, state-run BSS news agency reported.
Need to revive SAARC
“We need to maintain good relations with India. But it should be based on equity and fairness,” the chief adviser’s special assistant Mahfuj Alam quoted him as saying.
Mahfuj, who briefed the media after the meeting, added that Yunus said Bangladesh always gives importance to mutual respect and equity in maintaining relations with neighbours.
He stressed reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to enhance regional cooperation.
Delhi’s narrative
The interim government headed by Yunus was appointed days after Hasina resigned and fled to India on August 5 following unprecedented anti-government student-led protests over a controversial quota system in government jobs.
Last week, Yunus expressed a desire for good ties with India but insisted that New Delhi must abandon the narrative that only Hasina’s leadership ensures the country’s stability.
No immediate threat of conflict
Also on Sunday, Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain expressed surprise over Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s remarks, emphasising that he does not foresee any immediate threat of conflict between the two neighbours.
Addressing a joint commanders’ conference in Lucknow on Thursday, Singh called upon the top military brass to analyse the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the current situation in Bangladesh to “predict” any problems and stay prepared to deal with the “unexpected”.
“I am more surprised than concerned. I don’t understand why he (Singh) made such remarks... I don’t find any reason behind that,” Hossain told reporters at the foreign ministry in Dhaka when asked for his comments on Singh’s remarks.
(With agency inputs)
