LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam yesterday said the main objective of the prime minister's upcoming visit to India is to build a relationship of trust between the two neighbouring countries.
It is a political and strategic visit, he said at a roundtable titled 'Prime minister's upcoming visit: Interrelation between Bangladesh and India' organised by Sampradaikata O Jangibad Birodhi Mancha (a platform against communalism and militancy) at the National Press Club in the city.
The minister said the relationship between the two countries was not 'normal' in the last seven years. Rather, it was a superficial relationship.
Mentioning some reasons behind such relationship, he said the then Pakistani president Pervez Mosharraf during his visit to Dhaka during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government held an hour-long meeting with Ulfa leader Anup Chetia at a city hotel. Anup Chetia had been detained at that time.
He also mentioned the issue of 10-truck arms haul.
"How could we imagine that a vast democratic and progressive country like India will maintain a normal relationship when a party belonging to war criminals became the main ally of a government," he said.
Syed Ashraf said the main objective of the prime minister's visit would be to overcome the situation prevailing over the last seven years.
"We have to build a relationship of trust and soul with India. Both the countries would have to address each other's problems and it has to be reciprocal, not one-sided," he added.
He also said there will be no matter of 'give and take' during the upcoming visit of the prime minister.
"It's a political visit. A political visit does not necessarily entail any specific agenda," he noted.
Expressing the hope that the relationship with India will reach a remarkable level in the next four years, he said the visit will be the opening of a new beginning and this will brighten the relationship.
He also said that the Joint Rivers Commission meeting could not be held in the last seven years and the government held the primary meeting recently. "We will have more high level meetings where decision about the issues of Teesta and other common rivers will be taken."
The minister said the government wants to develop road and rail communications with China as well as India.
"We had a discussion on trade, bilateral and political as well as strategic relationships with China," he said, adding the prime minister will also visit China and the Chinese vice-president will visit Bangladesh.
The country needs to increase trade relationship with its neighbouring countries and to do so, construction of a deep-sea port is needed, he said, adding that deep-sea port in Chittagong will not be possible without the support of China.
Urging the media not to write anything that would create high expectations from the visit, he said the prime minister is capable of strengthening the relations with India and China further.
Other speakers at the roundtable suggested that the prime minister should discuss many unresolved issues such as enclave-related problems, maritime boundary, trade and export.
President of Bangladesh College-University Teachers' Association Dr M Akhtaruzzaman presented a keynote paper while President of the Mancha Prof Ajoy Roy presided.
Dr Mosharraf Hossain, Dr Syed Anwar Hussain of DU, Manjurul Ahsan Khan of CPB, Bimal Biswas of Workers Party, and Shyamol Dutta, editor of the daily Bhorer Kagoj, also spoke.