MEHERPUR, 8 August 2020 (BSS) – Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen said today that Bangladesh’s relations with New Delhi and Beijing are based on other perspectives, while history and emotion make it “rock solid” in India’s case, while economic problems dominate relations with China.
“We must not compare the relationships” from an identical standpoint, he told newsmen after paying tributes to the memories of 1971 Liberation War martyrs on a memorial at western Meherpur bordering India, the site where the first Bangladesh government was sworn-in in 1971.
Momen added: “Our bond with India is historic. ArrayArray is rock solid; it is a blood date, while economic unrest has basically a constant in our relations with China.
“Our victory is India’s victory. Our progression is that of India. ArrayArray can not hinder this dating (Bangladesh-India)”.
The Minister’s comments came here before comments on Dhaka with India and China in the context of the newly remade tensions between Bangladesh’s two giant neighbors.
Momen visited Meherpur, where the oath of office of the Bangladeshi first government’s workplace was administered on April 17, 1971 with Syed Nazrul Islam as interim president and Tajuddin Ahmed as prime minister for the wage war with Indian sponsors.
Bangladesh’s founder and Father of the Bangabandhu Nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, declared himself president in the custodial oath in absentia while in Pakistani captivity since Pakistani troops suppressed the black night of unarmed Bengali on March 25.
Momen described the dating between Dhaka and New Delhi as “very good” and the two countries were in a position to jointly celebrate Bangladesh’s 50th anniversary next year.
He said Bangladesh and India had amicably solved key bilateral problems, such as land and sea borders and security concerns, while advancing water exchange.
“However, there are notable problems. Have the religion in us. ArrayArray we’re going to solve them (also),” Momen said.
But he declined to comment on the ongoing tensions between New Delhi and Beijing, saying that “this is its conundrum, it has nothing to do with us,” while Bangladesh has liked to continue its own progression by maintaining ties with both countries.
“They are big trading partners of ours,” he said adding Dhaka wants to reap benefits of trade ties with both India and China.
When asked about the fate of the proposed trial of the Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh, Momen said many countries around the world were combining the world for a long-term COVID-19 vaccine.
“India and Pakistan have also collaborated with others (with regard to vaccine trials). We (Bangladesh) have not yet opted for a collaboration. (But) we also approve (the vaccine collaboration),” he said.
He said Dhaka had already contributed to a European Union fund, so Bangladesh could get the COVID vaccine more likely without problems.