India sees Sushma\\\'s visit satisfactory, fulfilling

New Delhi saw Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's maiden Bangladesh visit extremely satisfactory and fulfilling.
"It's our view that the visit is extremely satisfying and fulfilling. The external affairs minister goes back to India and hopes to build on excellent start of our new government's relationship with Bangladesh," said a spokesman accompanying her at a pre-departure briefing at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the city Friday.
The spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India, Syed Akbaruddin, said India under the recently-elected government wanted to further strengthen and take on a higher trajectory the bilateral relationship to the mutual benefit. He termed it an "excellent" beginning.
There is, he observed, a widespread desire to move ahead, address each other's concerns and work in the spirit of good neighbourliness.
India wants to take the relationship between the two countries forward, he added.     
Asked whether the BJP government would continue to work with the present Awami League-led government of Bangladesh during its full tenure, he quipped: the Indian government would work with the government of Bangladesh.
"All other issues, which are internal to Bangladesh, will need to be addressed and resolved by the people of Bangladesh," he said in an implicit reference to matters of domestic politics.
When his attention was drawn to the matters discussed in the meeting between BNP Chairperson and former premier Khaleda Zia and the Indian external affairs minister, Mr Akbaruddin went for summing up all the meetings Sushma Swaraj had on the concluding day.
"I want to summarise the outcomes of today's discussions. Across the widest spectrum of Bangladesh government and society, there is a desire and a feeling of Bangladeshi people for greater friendship, greater cooperation and greater interaction with India," he said. These were the messages he said they got during the Dhaka visit.
The spokesman informed the press that the external affairs minister was extremely grateful for the warm welcome given to the minister and gracious hospitality offered by the government of Bangladesh.
UNB adds: Earlier BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at a meeting with the visiting Indian minister Friday said democracy was now absent in Bangladesh.
During a briefing after the meeting, BNP standing committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan said BNP informed the Indian Minister that democracy was now absent in Bangladesh and the so-called parliament did not reflect the people's will.
BNP vice-chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan and BNP Chairperson's advisers Riaz Rahman and Sabihuddin Ahmed, and party acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir accompanied Khaleda Zia at the meeting held at Sonargaon Hotel's Bengal Suite.
Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury briefed the media after Khaleda Zia's 35-minute meeting with Sushma from 10:35 am to11:10am.
"Indian government wants to build relations with the people of Bangladesh, not with any particular party or any government. We want people-to-people contact, which is Saarc's main goal," Shamsher Mobin quoted Sushma as telling Khaleda Zia.
Quoting Sushma further, the BNP leader said the Indian new government, in line with the Saarc goal, would take new initiatives so that the South Asian people could work together in a peaceful and democratic atmosphere.
Replying to a query whether BNP sought Indian assistance for arrangement of midterm election in Bangladesh, Shamsher Mobin said the issue did not come up for discussion. "It's our internal matter."
During the meeting, Khaleda Zia again congratulated the Indian new government and told the Indian minister that the people of Bangladesh wanted deeper relations with India, Shamsher said.
"With the (recent general) election result in India, the people of Bangladesh see a ray of hope that it'll open up a new chapter in the Bangladesh-India bilateral issues," he quoted Khaleda as telling Sushma.
The BNP chairperson welcomed the initiatives taken by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strengthen the relations among the South Asian countries through Saarc.
Khaleda said the unresolved bilateral issues could be solved soon on the basis of mutual benefits following negotiations so that it would have positive impacts on the bilateral relations.
In response, the Indian External Affairs Minister said they had already made progress in solving the pending issues. "But, they're on efforts to forge a national consensus about the issues," he said.
Later, Khaleda and Sushma Swaraj held one-to-one meeting for 10 minutes.
Drawing attention to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policy that development was not possible without democracy, the BNP leaders said the democracy of Bangladesh would have to be restored.
Sushma Swaraj began the last day (Friday) with a visit to Dhakeswari Temple and then she had a series of meetings with Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Adviser Gawher Rizvi, Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman and opposition leader Rowshan Ershad in her hotel suite.
After assuming charge of the MEA following a landslide poll victory under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj arrived here on Wednesday night on her first bilateral visit that indicates the importance her government attaches to Bangladesh.
The two sides touched on all major bilateral issues, some dating back to the 1947 partition of the subcontinent at the end of the British rule, including Teesta water sharing and land boundary agreement to resolve enclave problems.