With an eye towards a thaw in relations, Foreign Office Consultations have begun between the foreign secretaries of India and Bangladesh.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrived in Dhaka in an Indian Air Force aircraft around 8:30am today (9 December).
This is the first visit of a secretary-level Indian government official since the fall of the Awami League government and the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, who has been staying in India since 5 August.
Bangladesh and India have been embroiled in a bitter war of words, with the former emphasising that relations between the two going forward will have to take the changed reality since 5 August into consideration.
With deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina still holed up in India and Indian media carrying out a relentless disinformation campaign against Bangladesh, things have come to a head in recent weeks.
Both sides have let their opposition be known – Indian saris have been burnt in demonstrations in Bangladesh, while Jamdani saris have been burnt in India.
At the same time, the arrest of a former Iskcon leader has also ruffled weathers in India, but Bangladesh has maintained this was their internal matter.
Meanwhile, Ishrat Jahan, director general (South Asia wing) of the foreign ministry received the Indian foreign secretary upon his arrival in Dhaka.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma was also present.
Foreign ministry sources said the Indian foreign secretary is meeting his Bangladesh counterpart Md Jashim Uddin and will have several other meetings in Dhaka.
According to the draft schedule, after participating in the secretary-level meeting, he will join lunch. Then he will pay a courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Advisor Md Touhid Hossain and Chief Advisor Dr Muhammad Yunus.
Vikram Misri is scheduled to return to Delhi tonight.
Adviser Hossain on Sunday expressed optimism that Bangladesh and India would be able to overcome the kind of stalemate that two neighbouring countries witnessed over the last couple of months.
“We expect that we will be able to overcome this impasse. Establishing mutual communication and meeting each other are very important to overcome any such stalemate,” he said.
Speaking at a seminar at the Jatiya Press Club, Hossain said, “I hope they (foreign secretaries) will have a fruitful discussion.”
He said it is also important to note that the relations between Bangladesh and India witnessed changes after 5 August and both sides need to try and take forward the relations accepting this changed reality.
The downturn that the two countries witnessed over the last few months in terms of bilateral business activities affected both Bangladesh and India, not just Bangladesh got affected, said the Adviser.
The FOC led by the foreign secretaries is a structured engagement between Bangladesh and India.
Spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Mohammad Rafiqul Alam said there are always efforts to keep all the elements of the bilateral relations on agenda.
He, however, said there are some broad areas – trade, border management, connectivity, and water issues – and these will be discussed.
