Stuck in the past won’t build the future
Local government minister and India’s top envoy to Dhaka pledged Tuesday to deepen bilateral ties, even as the Indian diplomat sought to steer the conversation away from Bangladesh’s fraught domestic politics, telling reporters that “the past cannot be forgotten, but one cannot remain stuck in the past either.”
The remarks came after a courtesy meeting between Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan, minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, and Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi at the minister’s office in the Secretariat. State Minister Mir Shahe Alam also attended the talks.
Khan said the two countries should build on their historically close relationship, emphasizing shared interests and the welfare of both nations’ citizens.
The two sides discussed expanding trade and economic cooperation, with the minister highlighting the potential of a free trade arrangement and stressing that stronger people-to-people contact could lift the relationship to a new level.
For his part, the high commissioner opened the meeting by congratulating Dr. Khan on the 48th founding anniversary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and on his new ministerial post, praising his long political career.
Trivedi said India was interested in skills development and knowledge-sharing in local governance, floating the idea of training programs for Bangladeshi officials through an institute in Hyderabad.
He expressed optimism that cooperation between the two countries would keep expanding on the basis of mutual interest.
But it was the high commissioner’s comments on Bangladesh’s internal politics that drew the sharpest attention. Pressed by reporters after the meeting, Trivedi declined to weigh in, saying such matters were not his to discuss.
“Whatever the people of Bangladesh judge to be right, that is what will happen,” he said, noting that a party holding a two-thirds majority in parliament was best positioned to understand the country’s circumstances.
State Minister Shahe Alam, meanwhile, reiterated the government’s commitment to holding free, fair and impartial local government elections, saying votes at all five tiers of local government would be completed within the current fiscal year – a step he said would strengthen local representation and democratic participation.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Shahe Alam said India had expressed interest in observing Bangladesh’s local government election process and, pending further discussion, in sending Indian observers. He said the matter would be taken up with the Election Commission.
The meeting was also attended by Md. Shahidul Hasan, secretary of the Local Government Division, Indian Deputy High Commissioner Pawan Badhe, and senior officials from both the ministry and the Indian High Commission.
