He also said 25 per cent of Bangladesh’s population count on anti-India Jamaat-e-Islami, which was often influenced by the Pakistani spy agency Inter Services Intelligence.
‘Our relations (with Bangladesh) are quite good. But we must reckon that at least 25 per cent of the population of Bangladesh swear by the [Jamaat-e-Islami] and they are very anti-Indian, and they are in the clutches, many times, of the ISI.
‘So, a political landscape in Bangladesh can change at any time. We do not know what these terrorist elements, who have a hold on the [Jamaat-e-Islami] elements in Bangladesh, can be up to,’ said Manmohan.
Manmohan Singh with PM Sheikh Hasina
He made the remark while interacting with some of the senior editors of Indian newspapers on Wednesday. His office made public the full transcript of the question and answer session.
Though India recognizes that its relations with Bangladesh significantly improved after Sheikh Hasina took over as prime minister, Manmohan’s remark apparently reflected New Delhi’s concerns over vulnerability of the Awami League government in Dhaka.
The Indian prime minister made the remark at a time when Dhaka is set to play host to a number of dignitaries from Delhi. India’s external affairs minister SM Krishna is likely to reach Dhaka on July 6 next for a visit to Bangladesh.
Water resources minister Salman Khurshid may also visit Dhaka soon for a meeting with his counterpart Ramesh Chandra Sen. Sen and Khurshid are expected to give final touches to an interim agreement on sharing of water of the River Teesta.
President of India’s ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, is also expected to be in Dhaka on July 25 to attend a special conference on disabled and autistic children. Sonia, who also chairs the ruling United Progressive Alliance, accepted an invitation from Hasina to attend the conference.
Manmohan, who himself is also likely to go to Dhaka on a state visit to Bangladesh within the next few months, made the remark on Bangladesh, when he was asked by a senior editor to comment on the situation in the neighborhood of India. He started his reply to the question admitting that he was worried by the situation in the neighborhood. ‘Well, neighborhood worries me a great deal, quite frankly.’
He lauded the Awami League government in Dhaka for going out of its way to detain the leaders of the Indian insurgent organizations from Bangladesh and hand them over to India in 2009 and 2010.
‘With Bangladesh, we have good relations. The Bangladesh government has gone out of its way to help us in apprehending the anti-Indian insurgent groups which were operating from Bangladesh for a long time. And that is why we have been generous in dealing with Bangladesh,’ said Manmohan.
He was obviously referring to the tacit cooperation between Dhaka and Delhi that led to the arrest of several top leaders of the Indian insurgent organisations like United Liberation Front of Assam and National Democratic Front of Bodoland along the border in November and December 2009 as well as in May 2010.
Manmohan said New Delhi and Dhaka were also ‘looking at ways and means of finding a practical and pragmatic solution to the sharing of water of the Teesta’. ‘I plan to go there myself,’ he said, referring to his proposed visit to Bangladesh.
News Source:
The New Age
No comments:
Post a Comment