By NNN-BSS,
New Delhi : India is committed to resolving through dialogue all outstanding issues with Bangladesh including the enclaves’ problem, Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said here on Saturday.
In an exclusive interview with the BSS bureau chief in Delhi, Ms Rao said,” As a humanitarian gesture, India has agreed to the electrification of Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves.”
The Indian Foreign Secretary said, there is now a clear realization that such issues need to be resolved expeditiously and “we hope that we can do so in a mutually beneficial manner keeping in mind the spirit of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement as well as factoring in the reality which exists on the ground.”
Responding to a question as to how does the UPA Government view the proposed visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to India , she said India warmly welcome the visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to India.
She said her visit comes at an important juncture in our relations. “We now have a significant opportunity to take our relations to a higher trajectory by building on our historic links and traditional ties of friendship and cooperation,” she said.
Nirupama Rao said India also welcomes the restoration of multi- party democracy in Bangladesh.
” I am confident that during this visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we would identify new areas of cooperation as well as expand and strengthen our existing bilateral ties. India stands committed to building a forward looking relationship with Bangladesh ,” she said.
Replying to a question what are the proposals that India will make during the visit, Nirupama Rao said that India was keen to discuss the entire gamut of bilateral relations.
“We are looking at a range of areas to strengthen our cooperation including security, economic engagement, infrastructural development, railways, connectivity, power, dredging, culture and education and training,” Rao added.
“We look forward to building a strong economic partnership with Bangladesh. Towards this end, we are willing to extend a substantial line of credit to take up projects of priority to Bangladesh,” she said.
The foreign secretary added that India is also readily providing transit to Bangladesh to both Nepal and Bhutan. “I am confident that these and other initiatives will reflect the growing support on both sides of the border for close engagement between the two countries,” she said.
Asked as to what new initiatives are being taken to increase the flow of trade and investment between the two countries, the Indian FS said that India had taken several initiatives over the last two years or more to forge greater economic engagement with
Bangladesh.
Rao said,” In 2007, India lifted all restrictions on Bangladesh investments in India. We have also offered duty free access to SAARC LDCs to the Indian market. We are also progressively reducing the number of items from India’s negative
list that are of direct interest to Bangladesh”.
Referring to the visit of Foreign Minister Dipu Moni in September 2009, Rao said the expeditious operationalisation of the decisions regarding opening of trade points between the two countries as well as having border haats will augment trade flow.
“I am convinced that better connectivity will assist in this direction. We are confident that restrictions on Indian investments in Bangladesh would also be removed to enable our companies to invest in Bangladesh,” she added.
Replying to a question on whether India would discuss sharing of water of the common rivers including Teesta in the upcoming visit, Nirupama described it as an important issue between both countries.
She said, “We wish to resolve all issues in a mutually beneficial way. The sharing of Teesta water is being discussed between the two countries. We have just had a meeting between the Water Resources Secretaries of India and Bangladesh in Dhaka between 4-5 January 2010 wherein they discussed this issue with a view to promoting convergence in the approach between our two countries”.
She hoped to take these discussions forward in the near future.
Rao said the activities of the Indian Insurgent groups have disturbed peace and tranquility of the north- eastern states and also in other parts of India.
“Both India and Bangladesh are convinced that enhanced security cooperation is in our mutual interest and we have resolved to purposefully fight the menace of terrorism and insurgency,” she added.
Rao said India expects important agreements to be signed during this visit on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners, Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, and Combating International Terrorism, Organised Crimes and Illegal Drugs.
She said enhanced economic engagement is not a quid pro quo for cooperation in security matters. ” Our economic assistance grows out of a genuine desire to forge a close economic partnership for our two countries’ mutual benefit.
We are committed to a prosperous Bangladesh and we hope our economic
assistance to Bangladesh would give a fillip to its economic growth and Development,” Rao said.