MODI, HASINA SCRIPT GOLDEN AGE OF INDIA-BANGLA MAITRI
template for next steps in the India-bangladesh partnership. With a view to upscale economic partnership, a trade framework pact was signed, which will not only enhance trade and investment, but will also enable Dhaka to reduce trade deficit with New Delhi and make two-way business more balanced. With a political push from the two leaders, CEPA negotiations are expected to acquire momentum in days to come. launched by the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh to link Dhaka Cantonment with New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. Ahead of his visit to Dhaka, PM Modi had put the spotlight on enhancing connectivity by inaugurating the Maitri Setu (Friendship Bridge) and other infrastructural projects in Tripura in India’s Northeast. It’s not just bilateral connectivity but the two countries will also be closely cooperating in promoting regional connectivity and integration through platforms such as BIMSTEC, IORA and SAARC.
visit raised the bar high and unveiled new vistas in this mutually energizing partnership. PM Modi evocatively called this new 2.0 phase of India-bangladesh relations as Nai Urja, Nai Gati (New Energy, New Momentum) that is brimming with possibilities. Giving a peek into the future of India-bangladesh relations, India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla outlined these frontier areas, including start-ups, artificial intelligence, big data, internet of things and Industrial Revolution 4.0. Collaboration in public health and pandemic mitigation will be an important area of shared endeavour. The symbolic presentation of 109 lifesupport ambulances and another batch of 1.2 million units of Made-in-india vaccine underscored that Delhi and Dhaka will walk together, in sickness and in health. At 10.2 million, Bangladesh is the largest recipient of Indian vaccines.
Going forward, to retain the momentum in burgeoning ties, PM Modi and Sheikh Hasina also exchanged notes on shaping and elevating this partnership for the next fifty years. Taking the long view, the Delhi-dhaka connect has the potential to become a model for the dysfunctional South Asian region scarred by suspicion and distrust. Going by this extremely productive and future-looking engagement between the leaders of India and Bangladesh at the historic celebrations, it’s possible to re-imagine a new future of South Asia that is more physically, culturally and emotionally integrated. Moving beyond diplomacy, the overarching message from PM Modi’s Dhaka journey was, a joyous celebration of shared cultural heritage, historical connections and robust people-to-people ties that will intertwine dreams of over 1.5 billion people living in the two countries.
Manish Chand is Editor-inchief of “India Writes Network” and “India and the World” magazine.