Bangladesh-India relations: Two foreign secretaries meet today amid tension

Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri will arrive in Dhaka on Monday morning and hold meetings with his Bangladesh counterpart Md Jasim Uddin today, amid the growing tension between the two countries.

Confusion arose over the pre-scheduled meeting of the two foreign secretaries at the last moments after Dhaka summoned the New Delhi envoy and lodged a strong protest a day after several local pro-Hinduvta groups launched an unprecedented attack on the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, the capital of Indian state of Tripura, on allegation of minority repression in Bangladesh.

Vikram Misri will land in Dhaka on a special flight of the Indian Air Force. His meeting with foreign secretary Md Jasim Uddin will be the first high-level meeting between the high officials of Dhaka and New Delhi after the fall of the Shikeh Hasina-led Awami League government.

This is Vikram Misri’s first visit to Bangladesh as the foreign secretary. He is scheduled to have a tete-a-tete with foreign secretary Md Jasim Uddin before the official discussion, which will be followed by a lunch. He then will pay courtesy calls to Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain and Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus. Vikram Misri is scheduled to leave Dhaka for New Delhi on Monday night.

According to diplomatic sources, the meeting of the foreign secretaries is a routine matter. Yet, it has special significance in the post-5 August political changeover because the world sees the fall of Sheikh Hasina as inevitable whereas India is yet to accept it and rather bring the minority issues to the fore.

Foreign adviser Md Touhid Hossain said at a seminar on Sunday, “We must acknowledge that there has been a qualitative change in our relation before and after 5 August. We must accept this and work towards moving our relations forward. We hope that the most important factor in overcoming this deadlock is communication and face-to-face meetings. Tomorrow, the Indian foreign secretary will be here. The foreign secretary-level meeting is a routine matter, nothing unusual. I hope they will have fruitful discussions.”

Earlier, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly briefing in New Delhi on Friday, “Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is scheduled to visit Bangladesh on 9 December. And he will meet his counterpart and there will be several other meetings during the visit. Foreign Office Consultations led by the Foreign Secretary is a structured engagement between India and Bangladesh. We look forward to this meeting.”

Officials in Dhaka said the strain that was felt on the Dhaka-Delhi ties since 5 August is unprecedented. Added to this were the attack on the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala and the protest in front of the Bangladesh mission in Mumbai. However, Bangladesh sees the meeting as a positive sign despite much bitterness.

It has been learned that both sides agreed to maintain the secrecy to some extent on the visit of the Indian foreign secretary. So, no side agrees to make anything public before holding any discussion.

The first director general-level meeting of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government on 5 August has been postponed. The 55th meeting between the DG’s of the border forces of the two neighbouring countries was scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 18-22 November.

However, three official-level meetings were held on water sharing, land border and land port issues between the two countries. Members of the Joint River Commission held a technical meeting on Ganga water flow in Dhaka in October while the security committee on land border affairs and the Joint Working Group on land port held separate meetings in Kolkata in New Delhi in November.