Surely India won’t decide Bangladesh’s ties with Pakistan: Touhid Hossain
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Monday said as Bangladesh does not decide the nature of India’s relationship with Pakistan, similarly, India surely will not determine Bangladesh’s relationship with Pakistan.
He made the remark while responding to a newsperson’s question at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Monday evening .
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is scheduled to visit Dhaka on 23 August. This will be the first bilateral visit of any Pakistani foreign minister in the past three decades.
When asked whether India’s concerns over Bangladesh’s relations with Pakistan would be taken into account, Touhid Hossain said, “I don’t decide how India’s relationship with Pakistan will be. Likewise, surely India won’t decide how our relations with Pakistan will be.”
Speaking about Ishaq Dar’s upcoming visit to Bangladesh, the foreign affairs adviser further said that the visit involves matters of mutual interest between Bangladesh and Pakistan, including trade and commerce, and that all aspects of the bilateral relationship will be open for discussion.
Bangladesh, he said, seeks normal relations with Pakistan. Relations are not going to rise abnormally to a higher level; at the same time, Bangladesh has also moved away from the earlier position of intentionally keeping ties strained with Pakistan. “Our relationship with Pakistan will be like that with any other country.”
Asked whether issues such as a formal apology for 1971 or the return of outstanding funds (including Bangladesh’s share of the State Bank of Pakistan and USD 200 million in foreign donations intended for cyclone victims in 1970) would be on the table, Touhid Hossain said, “Every issue will be on the table. What hasn’t been possible in 50 years won’t be resolved in six months.”
Emphasising that Bangladesh will approach talks with a positive mindset, the foreign adviser said, “We don’t want one issue to block another.”
On whether a Bangladesh–China–Pakistan trilateral initiative would be discussed during Ishaq Dar’s visit, Touhid Hossain said there is no such alliance among Dhaka, Beijing, and Islamabad.
According to him, an informal meeting took place. That doesn’t mean there can’t be another one soon. Bangladesh would welcome broader participation—perhaps one or two other countries could join.