Thaw as Bangladesh says ties with India 'historic' and 'rock solid'

NEW DELHI: After reports of a slide in India-Bangladesh ties, Bangladesh foreign minister, AK Abdul Momen spoke to foreign minister S Jaishankar to express condolences over the Kozhikode crash. His deputy, Shahriar Alam, spoke to his counterpart V Muralidharan also on Saturday evening.


"Deeply shocked about the tragic accident of Air India Express flight in Kozhikode, that took precious lives and injured many.

I convey our deepest condolence. Our thoughts, prayers are with bereaved families," Momen told India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar.

Momen, who has been recently very critical of India and the Modi government, described Dhaka's relationship with New Delhi as "historic" and "rock-solid”.

"Our ties with India are historic. Rock-solid; it is a blood relation while economic issues mainly shaped our relations with China," Momen said. "Our victory is India's victory. Our development is India's development. Nothing can hinder this ( Bangladesh-India ) relations.”

Momen has been quoted as being more positive on the China relationship than India in recent weeks., making statements that have raised eyebrows in New Delhi. While India was the original sinner, with home minister Amit Shah , describing Bangladesh illegal migrants as “termites,” there have been a number of adverse reports of the India-Bangladesh relationship.

This included a former senior Bangla army officer accusing the government of getting too close to India. But on the Indian side, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee not only closed down the Benapole-Petrapole border which affected goods traffic to Bangladesh and other countries, she has refused to take back almost 2000 Indian citizens stranded in Bangladesh for the past few months, leading many of them to contemplate drastic self-harm to attract the attention of the government of West Bengal.

In addition, reports of China’s massive aid to Bangladesh has made it seem like India has not been up to speed in keeping Bangladesh on its side, particularly during the time of the pandemic and strained India-China relations.
Indian officials are particularly excited at the development of new transport corridors to Bangladesh, including freight trains. Western Railway, in a statement over the weekend, said it would be running a parcel train from Ahmedabad to Bangladesh, a move that opens the Bangladesh market to Indian goods which can travel in far less time than road transport.

Indian officials say about 17 railway sector projects have been included in the line of credit assistance extended by India to Bangladesh, with a commitment of close to $2.5 billion. “India has offered all LoCs to Bangladesh at a rate of interest of 1% p.a., repayment over 20 years with a moratorium for 5 years.”

Railway projects under implementation using LoC assistance include - Kulaura-Shahbazpur railway line at a cost of $78 million and Khulna-Mongla railway line project worth $389 million. In addition, a cross border rail link of 12 Kms is being built between Agartala and Akhaura town on the Dhaka-Chittagong trunk line. This is likely to be completed by 2021 and will increase freight and passenger connectivity with the north eastern states.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government appears to have paused a programme to conduct human trials for Chinese Covid vaccines inside Bangladesh, a project that was endorsed by some senior members of the Hasina government.
Significantly, trial for transhipment through Chittagong to India’s northeast states was also completed in July, a feat that has taken many years but also a sign of growing trust.