PM’s India trip was one of most successful: Shahriar Alam

Shahriar Alam, state minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has termed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's recent India visit as one of the most successful visits.

"In light of the visit, I would say Bangladesh has certainly reached a stage that it deserves. Bangladesh has attracted everyone's attention from the point of view of the economy," Shahriar Alam said Saturday at a roundtable meeting, organised by the Editors' Guild at the capital's Dhaka Gallery in Banani.

"During the prime minister's trip, a 33-point joint manifesto was released. It featured seven agreements and the status of six projects," added the minister.

Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, said, "We have not reached the role model level of neighbourly diplomacy but we are walking on that path. If I were asked where the role model is, I would say I see it in the European Union."

He also said, "We are certainly role models in the South Asian context, but we need to go further in the global context."

Ainun Nishat, professor emeritus at BRAC University, said, "I have been watching the relationship between the two countries for a long time. If we can go back to the decision given by the Prime Ministers of the two countries on 19 March, 1972, the experts of the two countries were instructed to arrange water for both sides from the shared rivers. In 2011, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina again gave the same instruction. Now it is included in the long term framework for cooperation."

Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta said, "When the two Prime Ministers meet, everything comes up for discussion. This time, the meeting between the two Prime Ministers was very important. They had a meeting for about half an hour. Besides, they also discussed for another hour over lunch. We would like to see this visit from a global perspective."

Editors' Guild President Mozammel Babu, editor-in-chief of Ekattor Television, "I have come to know as a student of Dr Ainun Nishat how beneficial Tipaimukh dam is for us. By constructing a dam there it was possible to maintain a constant flow of water throughout the year. We would have got electricity as a by-product. Bangladesh could have given the highest condition there that India will not withdraw any water from the downstream. Without understanding anything, we went against the Tipaimukh dam."

Amena Mohsin, professor of international relations at Dhaka University, said, "I found the most positive aspect of this visit is connectivity, which was very much focused during the trip."

Editors' Guild President Mozammel Babu moderated the round table discussion, attended by Agni Roy of India's Anandabazar Patrika, Mahua Chattopadhyay, assistant editor of Times of India, Former Ambassador Munsi Faiz Ahmad, Devadeep Purohit of The Telegraph, and Kallol Bhattacharya of The Hindu among others.