IANS
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India’s policy towards Bangladesh would not change even if there is a regime change in New Delhi after the elections, India’s high commissioner in Dhaka has said.
Pankaj Saran said relationships between the two neighbours depend “a great deal on mutual interests”.
“...Interests don’t really change with the government,” Saran said while delivering a lecture at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS).
The envoy was replying to a question on whether the relationship with Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League-led government would remain the same if BJP came to power in India, bdnews24.com reported yesterday.
Bangladesh-India relations entered a new phase of positive engagement in the last five years when Awami League (AL) and India’s Congress Party, which enjoyed historical relations with the AL since 1971 when Bangladesh was born, ruled their
respective countries.
The envoy said the relationship between the two neighbouring countries would remain strong after May 17 when India has a new government.
He said every country has interests and “those interests
really don’t change”.
“We are not going to roll back the power lines,” Saran said. “We are not going to shutdown Maitree Express (only railway service
between India and Bangladesh).”
“These are initiatives that have been put on the ground and they are the new reality,” he said.
