Hasina: Bangladesh ready to work with new Indian PM

AFP/Tokyo

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday she was ready to work with her new Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, despite his hardline image.

Hasina, who is serving as premier for the third time, said she has dealt with four different Indian governments — “this is the fifth one” — and was keen to maintain a working relationship with her powerful and populous neighbour.

“He has his own ideas. Now he has become the prime minister of India, I hope he will also act as the prime minister of India,” she told a press conference in Tokyo, on the fourth day of her visit to Japan.

Modi, sworn in Monday after a landslide election victory earlier this month, has an image as a hardliner, even within his own Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

He is regarded with deep suspicion by many in Pakistan after deadly anti-Muslim riots erupted in his western fiefdom of Gujarat in 2002.

However, Hasina said Muslim-majority Bangladesh has had good relations with India where differences have been resolved through discussions, such as concluding a treaty on water resources.

“What I believe is that through bilateral discussions, if there is any problem, we can solve it,” she said.

She stressed the region shares a “common enemy” in poverty, which it needs to fight through economic development.

“Bangladesh’s foreign policy is very clear. Friendship to all, and malice to none,” she said.

Hasina also suggested that Bangladesh was ready to withdraw its rival candidacy against Japan for a non-permanent member seat on the UN Security Council, if Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were to visit her nation.

Abe, who met with Hasina on Monday, gave $5.9bn economic aid.

More border outposts: The Bangladesh government will set up 21 more border outposts (BOPs) along the boundary with India’s northeastern states to check movement of terrorists and smuggling of contraband and drugs, an official has said.

“The proposed 21 BOPs would be set up along India-Bangladesh borders with Tripura and Mizoram to curb the cross-border movement of militants and smuggling of goods and drugs,” a top security official said.

He said: “The insurgents of northeast India and smugglers have been using the Tripura-Mizoram-Bangladesh borders as their safe corridors of movements. These portions of the unfenced boundaries due to its forested terrains are advantageous to the inimical elements.”

Four northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam share 1,880km

border with Bangladesh.

The mountainous terrain, dense forests and other elements make the unfenced borders porous and vulnerable, enabling illegal immigrants and intruders cross over without any hurdle.

“The Bangladesh government took this decision to step up security along Tripura-Mizoram-Bangladesh borders after the BSF (Border Security Force) requested the BGB in their recent border

conferences,” the official added.

The BSF had been requesting the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to demolish all the camps and hideouts of Indian militants set up in the Bangladesh territories.

“The Bangladesh army and BGB have demolished a number of camps and hideouts of Indian militants. But still there are some camps in Chittagong Hill Tracts (in southeast Bangladesh) and Sylhet district,” the official added.