India on Tuesday reiterated that it wants to take its relationship with Bangladesh forward in a positive, constructive and forward-looking manner and expressed its willingness to discuss all bilateral issues between the two countries.
“India desires a positive, constructive, and forward-looking relationship with Bangladesh,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said while responding to a question about bilateral ties during a media briefing in New Delhi.
Jaiswal said India is ready to discuss all bilateral issues with Bangladesh through the existing structured mechanisms.
“Our intent is to take this relationship forward in a positive direction, in a constructive direction, in a forward-looking manner,” he said.
Asad Alam Siam, the current Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, will soon move to New Delhi as the new Bangladesh High Commissioner to India.
A copy of the “agrément” (an official approval by the host country) has already been handed over to Bangladesh, a senior official told UNB on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Saidur Rahman (Minister, Press) at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi told UNB that the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi was officially informed of this via email on Tuesday afternoon.
The Foreign Secretary is now in New York accompanying Prime Minister Tarique Rahman as a member of the Bangladesh delegation.
The government is scheduled to appoint Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury, the immediate past Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York, as the next Foreign Secretary.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir recently said Bangladesh wants to “reset” its bilateral relationship with India after what he described as an uncomfortable relationship over 15 years under an “authoritarian, corrupt and exploitative” regime.
“We want to move towards a new relationship, which should be done through bilateral discussions, not through a multilateral forum,” Kobir said while responding to a question at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 13.