Bangladesh has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence on March 26 next year, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said on Sunday.
The Indian side accepted the invitation in principle, he said.
“We want the Indian prime minister on March 26 because our victory is also India’s victory. We should celebrate it together,” Momen told reporters after his meeting with new Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami in Dhaka.
Among other issues, the celebrations of 50 years of independence were discussed during the meeting, he said, adding that not only Bangladesh, India will also celebrate the occasion.
The foreign minister and the high commissioner also discussed the planned virtual meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Modi in December.
“The meeting will take place either on December 17 or 18. They [India] wanted the meeting on December 16, but we will be very busy on that day,” said Momen.
হাই কমিশনার শ্রী বিক্রম দোরাইস্বামী আজ, ১৮ অক্টোবর ২০২০ বাংলাদেশ সরকারের মাননীয় পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী ড. একেএ মোমেনের সঙ্গে...
Posted by India in Bangladesh (High Commission of India, Dhaka) on Sunday, October 18, 2020
“Particularly, the line of credit. He will be working on that. It [the implementation of LOC] should go smoothly. There is no reason why it should not be,” he said, emphasizing that the reputation should not be tarnished.
Border killing
“We discussed what you have seen in today’s newspapers. It should not be an issue at all. Skirmishes do take place. If there are you get angry. The border killing is regrettable.
Two chiefs [of Border Security Force and Border Guard Bangladesh] promised that there would be no more killings. But, it did happen,” said Momen.
“This is purely an accident. He [the Indian high commissioner] said it could not affect anything… There is sincere effort to stop such killings,” he added.
India’s Border Security Force shot a Bangladeshi youth around 4am on Sunday after he entered Indian territory near Thakurpur border in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen hands over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to new Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami during a meeting in Dhaka on October 18, 2020 | UNB
The both sides also discussed the follow-up on the meeting joint consultative commission last month, said the foreign minister.
India could have disregarded Bangladesh
Momen said: “The relationship between Bangladesh and India is very sweet. The result of the good relations is good for both the countries.”
“India is a huge neighbour. They could have disregarded us,” he said.
But, Bangladesh has solved many problems through discussions including Ganges water, land boundary issues, and maritime disputes, said the minister.
“The relationship between a Muslim-majority country and a non-Muslim one is unique,” he said, adding that India could have taken no notice of the dispute regarding Bangladesh’s maritime dispute with India.
But, Momen lamented that there is no recognition of these things and stressed that the university professors should write research papers on these successes.
