Bangladesh's ties with India reshaping, not cold: Adviser

Bangladesh's post-uprising ties with India are not cold but at the stage of 'readjustment' now, said Foreign Adviser Towhid Hossain Thursday, also dispelling hearsay over new alliance with China and Pakistan.

The adviser of the interim government made the observations on separate questions from journalists at the foreign ministry.

"I do not want to label our ties with India as 'cold' but are at the stage of readjustment, and from our side, there is no lack of sincerity," he told the reporters when asked whether present cold ties with India were desirable.

"There is no denial that our ties with India now are not that much close as it was during the previous government," he notes.

Responding to the other question, he said Bangladesh has no plan now to form any alliance with China and Pakistan as rumoured following the meeting of the foreign secretaries of the three countries in Kunming recently.

It was a meeting on the sidelines of a fair and mainly trade and connectivity issues were discussed there. It was not a structured meeting and there should not be any speculation, he said, adding that, maybe, the presence of China and Pakistan fuelled the speculations.

But he made it clear that if India would invite Bangladesh to a meeting to discuss connectivity issues, it would take part in the same spirit. He said Bangladesh has good ties with Myanmar, excepting the issue of Rohingya.

And this problem can be solved when Rohingyas in Bangladesh can go back to their homeland in Myanmar to live a normal life.

He notes that a lot has changed in Myanmar since the beginning of the Rohingya crisis, especially a massive change took place on areas adjacent to Bangladesh border, making things more complicated. The adviser hopes the issue will be resolved someday as efforts are going on.

To a question, he said Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus may visit Malaysia in August, but the exact date has yet to be fixed.

He said many Bangladeshis who sought government help for being evacuated from Iran now informed the ministry that they do not want to return home now as the war has ended.

However, he added, the foreign ministry is standby to provide help to Bangladeshis in Iran if they want to leave the country.

mirmostadiz@yahoo.com