We take as much pride in Sheikh Mujib as Bangladesh does: Riva Ganguly
Referring to the Mujib Borsha celebrations and the forthcoming visit of the prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit, Indian high commissioner Riva Ganguly Das said that India takes Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as much as their own as does Bangladesh. She came to visit Prothom Alo's Karwan Bazar office today (Wednesday). Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman welcomed her.
Referring to the recent visit of Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh said he had been very happy with this visit. “He had the opportunity to clarify many issues during his detailed talk at a seminar which we had organised with BIISS,” she said.
As for the National Register of Citizenship (NRC), Ganguly said the foreign secretary had pointed out that much was being said on the basis of wrong information. “Actually this is just fast tracking the Citizens (Amendment) Act (CAA), but there is a lot of wrong interpretation. NRC anyway is not getting implemented at the present moment, as the foreign secretary clearly said.”
Indian high commissioner Riva Ganguly highlighted two new land ports being added as entry points to India. “Presently with a normal visa you can travel by air and rail and, for land ports, just Benapole and Petrpole. Now we are adding two new land ports as entry points. These are Gojadanga, with Bhomra on the Bangladesh side and Agartala, with Akhaura on this side. This will be a great relief as there is a lot of heavy traffic in these areas.”
She said that the decision for these two new entry points was taken during the prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Indian visit in October and now is being implemented before the Indian prime minister’s visit to Bangladesh. “Two important decisions were implemented following the Bangladesh prime minister’s visit. One was increasing the service of Maitri Bandhan Express and the other is about the land ports. People-to-people interaction is increasing and there are a huge number of connectivity-related projects.”
Coming to the Rohingya issue, Ganguly said, “We want the safe, secure and sustainable return of the Rohingyas, we want the displaced persons to be taken back to Myanmar. We have made 250 pre fabricated houses for them. In the meantime, we support the joint proceedings between the Bangladesh government and Myanmar regarding the repatriation.”
Referring again the Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s Dhaka trip, Ganguly said, “This is the second country he has visited as foreign secretary. He first visited Kabul and then Dhaka.”
“The Dhaka visit has been very significant for Harsh Vardhan Shringla,” continued Riva Ganguly, “He is my immediate predecessor. I have replaced him only a year ago. He took a lot of initiatives here during his term. The most visible is in the areas of visa. He made things very simple.”
The basic message the foreign secretary gave during his visit, Ganguly said, was that the India-Bangladesh relationship was going through the best of times.
“Our main focus should be the future,” she said, “We all want economic growth, economic development and the improvement of the lives of the people of our countries. We should focus on the larger picture of India-Bangladesh, the future of India-Bangladesh relations. The credit goes to the two leaders of the two respective countries, their political vision, their ability to solve problems which is amply proved by the land boundary agreement, the maritime boundary agreement and more. There have been forward looking polices.”
About the visit of the Indian prime minister Nardera Modi, she said, “We look at the prime minister’s forthcoming visit as very significant. He is mainly coming for the inauguration of the Mujib Borsho. We take as much pride in Sheikh Mujib as Bangladesh does. He is a towering leader of the world.”