India has sent a strong message to Bangladesh that the upcoming parliamentary elections must be held in line with the schedule.
“For building democratic institutions, the election must be held,” Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh told a group of journalists at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
Sujatha arrived in the city on a special flight in the morning on a 24-hour visit. She had a 30-minute meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and hour-long discussion with Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia. She also met with Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad.
At the media interaction session, Sujatha gave short answers to most of the questions, and on politically-sensitive questions she tried to remain vague.
When asked if she supported an inclusive and participatory election, Sujatha said India wanted to see the upcoming election staged with the “maximum number of participants.”
When a journalist raised a question if BNP did not participate in the polls would it be a credible one following the UN definition, Sujatha said if somebody wanted to teach her with Webster or other dictionary, she would not understand it.
She said Bangladesh had its own system and it would happen in that way.
She was also not willing to disclose the matters discussed between her and the political leaders. “What we discussed is a matter between the leaders and us,” she reportedly said.
However, the secretary hoped that the next election would be free, fair and violence free and people would accept it.
One-to-one meeting with PM
After the meeting with the prime minister, a diplomat told the Dhaka Tribune: “They had a one-to-one meeting for about half an hour, but we do not know about the details. It is assumed that the secretary gave a message to the prime minister.”
The diplomat was present at the PMO during the meeting.
At the formal call-on with the prime minister, the Indian foreign secretary assured Hasina that India would try to resolve the pending Land Boundary Agreement, according to the diplomat who said he was not authorised to speak to media.
“The winter session of the Indian parliament will convene tomorrow [today] and the Indian side reassured that they will try to place the constitution amendment bill [to pave the way for ratification of the LBA],” he said.
Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid has twice failed to place the bill before.
Earlier in the morning, Sujatha called on Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali and had a discussion for about half an hour. Foreign Secretary Shahidul, Secretary (bilateral) Mustafa Kamal and Director General of South Asia Md Jashim Uddin were also present.
It is standard practice when foreign dignitaries meet the foreign minister, for only the director general of the desk concerned to be present at the meeting.
This is Sujatha’s first visit in a secretary capacity at the invitation of Shahidul Haque at a time when the country is plunged into chaos with a series of blockades and agitation over the arrangement of election.