Undeniably, seldom does a visit by a foreign minister of a country arouse the kind of interest and curiosity that were witnessed during the just-concluded one of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Bangladesh. Her first trip in her new capacity to a foreign country, following the change of government in New Delhi, has been the cynosure on many counts in Bangladesh and India, and also perhaps beyond, for a variety of reasons.
Not surprisingly, post-visit discussions and analyses are aplenty in different circles about the outcome of her talks with the functionaries of the government, leaders of the opposition parties and a cross section of people in Dhaka. All concerned quarters have demonstrated enormous interest in the visit of the Indian minister. Her visit to Bangladesh thus appears to have gone off fairly well, given the current state of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Her 36-hour stay in this country has provided Ms. Sushma Swaraj with the opportunity of "knowing" the mind of the government and opposition leaders as well as different sections of civil society. It has also been marked by an aroma of friendship and cordiality that largely characterise the Indo-Bangladesh relations.
True, Sushma's visit has not resulted in any agreement on any of the contentious bilateral matters that have defied solution for many years. But it seems that a positive ambience is now felt about the outstanding issues between the two countries and this may lead to their settlement in the future. It is not expected that the vexed matters, whatsoever important these might be to either of the sides, can be resolved through one visit of a minister of the new political establishment in New Delhi. The official Indian spokesman of the external affairs ministry Syed Akbaruddin fittingly stated that the beginning of the contacts between the new BJP-led government in India and Bangladesh has been "excellent."
Sushma Swaraj is a seasoned Indian politician who is also quite widely known in Bangladesh; she was earlier the information minister of the BJP-led government that was headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This time she was in Dhaka as the external affairs minister of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, which unseated the Congress-led alliance that governed India for an uninterrupted period of ten years under two electoral terms. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance partners won a near-landslide victory in the 2014 general elections in India. As such, Sushma Swaraj in the South Block in the Indian capital is now on a better footing as her party on its own has a decisive majority in parliament's lower house (Lokshaba) and she herself is crowned with a key ministry.
Nevertheless, she has been on a difficult mission to Bangladesh for the obvious reasons that a number of issues have come to the fore in the context of the ways that the new Indian government would like to shape up the Indo-Bangladesh relations. This is a matter of interest in all quarters. Although the visit has been of a "goodwill" nature, having no specific agenda for discussions with Dhaka, her bag, in diplomatic parlance, was "full of issues" for parleys ranging from politics to forms of cooperation. During her visit, there have been "substantial" talks on many issues that the two sides considered necessary for their understanding. Perceptions may vary on different issues, but the new Indian government rightly thought it necessary to share ideas with Dhaka about working together for strengthening of the bilateral ties and, in close concert, on regional and other matters of common concern.
Judged from this point of view, the visit of Sushma Swaraj to Bangladesh has been quite timely; it is also being considered "productive and useful" for better understanding of the Dhaka-New Delhi relationship.
From Bangladesh point of view, the outstanding issues like the sharing of the waters of the river "Teesta", implementation of the 1974 land boundary accord, maintenance of a congenial environment along the long porous border between two countries, narrowing down the large trade imbalance against it, handing over of some noted Bangladeshi criminals from India to Dhaka, and some other matters, have figured in, prominently during the discussions. From the Indian side, issues like transfer of their goods through Bangladesh to the former's north-eastern region, alleged activities of "Indian terrorists" from Bangladesh soil and some other matters have been given importance during the bilateral talks on the occasion.
Furthermore, a number of issues, being aimed at strengthening the economic ties, have been on the table. It augurs well for both sides that they have vowed to carry forward the existing process of cooperation and also to explore new areas for the purpose. This is commendable, indeed.
An area of great interest during Indian External Affairs Minister stay in Bangladesh was how the new government in New Delhi looks at the host country's main opposition party that is not in parliament because of its boycott of last polls in January this year. It transpires that the Modi government is keen to work with all political parties in Bangladesh as it been stated that his government believes in the "state-to-state"-level relationship. The spokesman of the Indian government said New Delhi expects that Bangladesh's political problems would be resolved by its people without any outside interference. Unquestionably, this stance would be welcomed by all concerned.
The visit of the Indian external affairs minister has raised the prospects for resolution of the bilateral disputes between the two neighbours, whose ties are deepened by the glorious background of 1971. However, the relations have also witnessed ups-and-downs over the last more than four decades.
Sushma's visit to Bangladesh has now raised the hope about further improving bilateral relations between the two countries in their mutual interests, by removing the constraints that tend to create a 'trust-deficit' situation, on real or perceived grounds, on both sides.
It is thus expected that the maiden visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister in her present capacity to any foreign country would significantly contribute to strengthening the Indo-Bangladesh ties in a situation where such relations would be marked by a "win-win" situation for both sides that is worthy of purpose, in terms of good neighbourliness and fraternity.
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