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New Delhi-Dhaka must reimagine ties as ‘strategic necessity for collective growth'—Bangladesh envoy
Riaz in his speech touched upon the soft dimensions of India-Bangladesh ties—language, culture and education. With thousands of Bangladeshi students studying in India, and an organic exchange of ideas and people across the two countries' 4,096-kilometre shared land border, he said the bilateral relationship was not merely geopolitical but personal.
The remarks come at a time when ties between New Delhi and Dhaka have been tense for months.
New Delhi: Bangladesh and India must reimagine bilateral and regional cooperation, not as a legacy of the past, but as a strategic necessity for collective growth and resilience, said M. Riaz Hamidullah, Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India, during a wide-ranging speech at the neighbouring country's belated national day celebration in New Delhi Thursday evening.
'Our collaboration cannot be judged solely by the memoranda signed or the meetings held,' he noted. 'We aspire for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood that upholds universal values while also protecting national interests.'
'Bound by shared geography, shared ecology, and a shared linguistic and cultural heritage, our two peoples embrace each other with respect and dignity,' Riaz added. 'Not just because we share the largest land boundary; our people engage organically, not merely as a matter of choice.'
He further asserted that 'Bangladesh's ties with India are historic, deep and multilayered. Bangladesh is open and engaged with India to address diverse issues of the present and future'.
Riaz noted that bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh grew in double digits in the fiscal gone by and said Dhaka sees the India-Bangladesh partnership as an engine for broader regional development, referencing the sub-regional energy agreement through which Nepal has begun transmitting 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh via the Indian grid.
'These mutually gainful tasks are already in place,' Riaz said. 'It is this understanding that asks our two nations to reimagine bilateral and regional cooperation, not as a legacy of the past, but as a strategic necessity for our collective growth and resilience.'
Highlighting Bangladesh's priorities under its chairmanship of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Riaz said Dhaka looks forward to 'reinvigorating the regional cooperation agenda'.
The envoy underlined the country's commitment to democratic values, calling democracy one of the founding ideals that inspired Bangladesh's liberation. He spoke of the current political transition under way in Dhaka, where an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is expected to hold free and fair elections early next year.
He further emphasised that the future of Bangladesh lies in transformation: empowering the young to define their destiny and build a democracy that is not only electorally functional but socially inclusive.
Riaz ended on a personal note, recounting his meeting last month with Raghu Rai—the Indian photojournalist who documented the Bangladesh Liberation War and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 for his powerful imagery.
'His work captured our agony, our struggle, and reminded me that the humanism of 1971 still binds us,' he said. 'Today, some of the war veterans from 1971 are with us in this hall. Their sacrifices must never be forgotten.'
'The friendship between Bangladesh and India must continue to fly forward, rooted in history, yet reaching ambitiously into the future,' Riaz concluded.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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