India, B’desh vow to boost ties, step up coast security
MODI-HASINA MEET NRC internal matter, process is court-monitored, Dhaka told
NEWDELHI: India and Bangladesh on Saturday unveiled a slew of measures, including a pact for setting up a joint coastal surveillance radar system and a project for bulk import of cooking gas to Tripura, aimed at elevating bilateral ties to an “irreversible partnership” based on enhanced connectivity and trade.
Following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, who is on a visit to India, the two sides signed seven pacts and launched three developmental projects. They also agreed on several steps to boost connectivity through air and rail services and waterways, and reiterated their commitment to eliminating terrorism in all its forms.
The Bangladeshi side raised its concerns over the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, which is aimed at identifying genuine Indian citizens and weeding out illegal aliens. The Indian side said that it was a Supreme Court-mandated process whose final outcome is awaited.
According to a joint statement, Modi and Hasina also agreed on the need for greater efforts for the “safe, speedy and sustainable repatriation” of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled violence in Myanmar and took refuge in Bangladesh. They agreed that these efforts should include improving the security situation and socio-economic conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
“India prioritises its partnership with Bangladesh. We are proud that the India-bangladesh relationship is a great example of cooperation between two friendly neighbours,” Modi said at a media interaction.
Hasina, visiting India for the first time since her re-election last year, said cooperation in fields such as security, business, energy, connectivity, education and culture had been greatly increased in the past decade and the two sides were looking at new areas such as the blue economy -ocean resources -- and peaceful uses of nuclear power.
An Indian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the country’s primary objective was “continuous progress in the relationship towards making it irreversible”. India, he said, wants to take its “neighbourhood first” policy forward by extending the benefits of a better quality of life to neighbours such as Bangladesh. The joint statement noted both premiers agreed to “ensure that this irreversible partnership enhances the legacy that started with the Great War of Liberation of Bangladesh”.
The proposal for the creation of a coastal surveillance radar system in Bangladesh, first made by India in 2015, was signed at the last minute after the tackling of sensitive issues, people familiar with the developments said. India will help establish surveillance radar and control facilities with back-up infrastructure by working with the Bangladesh Coast Guard, they said.
The final configuration of up to 20 radar facilities and the commercial part of agreement will be taken up in further negotiations.
Cong is going through a crisis, not because of its opponents but due to internal contradictions. ASHOK TANWAR, former Cong chief