India's position and importance in the independence of Bangladesh is much higher. Needless to say, Bangladesh will give importance to India for this. In this case, India should be given a little more importance on the basis of fairness.
Former Foreign Secretary Ambassador Touhid Hossain, while evaluating the 50 years of Bangladesh, has openly discussed with Barta24.com about various issues including relations between India, China, Russia and the United States. Special Correspondent Khurram Zaman has taken the 2nd episode of his private interview.
Touhid Hossain said, I do not think that the diplomacy of Bangladesh has become completely India-centric at present. I would not say that relation with India is bad. India looks its interests. India has taken Bangladesh for granted. That's a bad thing. We are also responsible for this. Besides, relations with India are good, trade and commerce are good. Bangladesh's exports to India are increasing. Relationships like those of '71 will not last forever, even after that.
He said that just as the Prime Minister of India came to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence in March 2021, so did the heads of state of four other countries. The President of India also came on Victory Day. India's position and importance in the independence of Bangladesh is much higher. Needless to say, Bangladesh will give importance to India for this. In this case, India should be given a little more importance on the basis of fairness.
The former foreign secretary said Indians felt that the Land Boundary Agreement had done something very positive. That's not right. India has been 42 years late in signing the agreement. When the Mujib-Indira agreement was signed in 1974, it was decided that both the parties would ratify it in their respective parliament.
Bangladesh has ratified without wasting any time. After 42 years, I think India has nothing to take credit for ratifying it. On the other hand, the issue of enclave exchange is not so big. India has made it big. It is a problem of only 50,000 people out of 150 crore people. The problem was not solved at ‘47 or ‘71. These people were living inhuman lives. ‘47 or ‘71 did not give them true freedom. They were almost stateless people.
Ambassador Touhid Hossain said that the killings taking place on the Bangladesh-India border do not happen anywhere in the world. China and India are enemies of each other, but they do not shoot at the border. But people are killed by regular firing at this border. Now India has come up with new excuses, saying it will stop as long as crime exists or if the border is closed.
The former foreign secretary raised the question, is there any border in the world where there is no crime? What a crime, cattle smuggling! There is demand for cattle in Bangladesh, not in India. It's a very small thing. It cannot be more valuable than human life.
Regarding the demarcation of India-Bangladesh maritime boundary, Touhid Hossain said that Bangladesh did not demarcate the maritime boundary with India. Not only India but also Myanmar went to the Bangladesh court as no solution was reached. Both parties have gone to court and both parties are bound to abide by the verdict. But even after the verdict, India still claims Bangladesh's inland waters. It is a meaningless sting.
Regarding the Rohingya crisis, the former foreign secretary said directly and harshly that the Rohingya crisis will not be solved easily. It will take time, until we can bring the situation under control. Many are trying to say, this is a regional issue. This is not a regional issue at all. It has become a problem for the whole of Bangladesh. Bangladesh could not make it a regional problem.
Touhid Hossain said that by pushing the Rohingyas, everyone is in peace except Bangladesh. It is our responsibility to take this problem to the global level. This will create regional problems. To put it bluntly, I think the solution would come if it could really be turned into a regional problem. We are not trying it.
Murder, drugs and human trafficking, noise are all going on in Bangladesh. Nothing touched the neighboring country.
Despite some tensions with the United States, the veteran diplomat said it was temporary. He said it would be resolved soon because we can't afford to have bad relations with the United States. The USA has the largest market in Bangladesh. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. They will come forward and fix the relationship and we will talk big but it will not happen. America can go on without us, we can't.
The former foreign secretary said China was one of the countries where relations with many countries had changed since independence. However, China is supporting Myanmar on the Rohingya issue in its own interest. Don't think that China is our enemy. In fact, Myanmar is allowing China to enter the Bay of Bengal.
Touhid Hossain said, on the other hand, Bangladesh's relationship with Russia is very cold. Russia was the biggest supporter during our liberation war. The outcome of the war of liberation could not have been like this if Russia had not supported us. It could have been different. Relations with Russia are going well, but we have not been able to keep up with the times.
Russia sided with Myanmar on the Rohingya issue. Myanmar is a major buyer of Russian weapons. We could be such buyers. On the other hand, we bought a power station from Russia at double the price. Moreover, China and Russia are now colluding, which the United States has tried for five decades but failed to sever. The United States has given China a chance to keep this isolation!