India, Dhaka should address sensitive issues with sincerity, candour: Envoy

Difficult and sensitive issues in the relationship ought to be addressed forthright in all sincerity and candour, be in trade, security or sharing natural resources, said Bangladesh high commissioner Riaz Hamidullah on Thursday.Speaking on Bangladesh’s 56th independence and national day, Hamidullah said that the future of the 2 countries rests firmly on the people’s shared belief in democracy and common developmental aspirations. “Such should be our shared future, where none would prosper as others around lag behind or stay constrained. Our shared values should call for appreciating others’ needs, endowment and expectations.” said Hamidullah, adding it’s possible for the 2 sides to chart a pathway towards inter-dependent relations for generations, beyond all differences.

The national day event was attended by MoS (MEA) Kirti Vardhan Singh and foreign secretary Vikram Misri.The high commissioner said PM Tarique Rahman had reiterated commitment to maintaining a pragmatic, mutually respectful and beneficial partnership with India, for shared prosperity. “As we speak, both our countries navigate complexities and uncertainties in the global order. While we foresee tumultuous times ahead, Bangladesh looks forward to walk and work together to preserve the values and principles of open regionalism and multilateralism, for both as responsive and responsible nations,” he said. Recalling the 1971 War of Liberation, Hamidullah said Bangladesh remembers the women and men who withstood a “genocide, for standing against the Pakistani occupying forces, merely to uphold their identity and dignity, their yearning for freedom and sovereignty”. “We remember so many across India who stood by us – emotionally, physically, materially – in West Bengal, Tripura, other parts of the North-East, and beyond. We remember so much of support and succour provided to the young Mukti Bahini Force Commanders in India,” said Hamidullah. Rahman had on Wednesday called for the establishment of the Liberation War’s spirit of “equality, human dignity and social justice”, as the nation observed Genocide Day on Wednesday. The Pakistani army had launched Operation Searchlight on the same day to suppress the Bengali people’s calls for self-determination in erstwhile East Pakistan, killing over 20,000 people in Dhaka alone.