Dialogue key to navigating bilateral challenge: Says Fouzul at India’s Republic Day event

The challenges of the bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and India should be approached as opportunities for renewed dialogue, said Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan yesterday.

“Like any neighbour, our bilateral relations do have challenges, but our shared experience shows that we have overcome challenges in the past and renewed our partnership for the greater good of the people,” he said at India’s Republic Day event organised by the Indian High Commission at a city hotel.

The event was attended by politicians, diplomats, journalists, academics, business leaders and civil society members.

“Guided by goodwill, mutual trust and respect, Bangladesh aims to foster strong relations with its neighbouring countries, including India, and expects those relations to be based on fairness, mutual dignity and equity,” Fouzul said.

“We are committed to advancing this relationship through a people-centric approach. Placing the welfare of our people at its core, I am confident that our ties will continue to grow,” he said.

“Our shared geography reminds us that what unites us -- the rivers, the forests, the mountains, the music, the writings and the dreams of our people -- is more powerful than what divides us,” he said.

In his address, Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma said Bangladesh has been an important co-traveller in India’s journey over the last 76 years.

“Over the years, our mutual exchanges and shared interdependence have been reinforced by a rapidly transforming landscape of connectivity and economic engagement, bringing our societies, people and businesses closer together,” he said.

He said today, as two fast-growing economies and aspiring societies powered by young, skilled and innovative populations, India and Bangladesh are capable of becoming catalysts for each other’s sustainable growth, enablers of each other’s future prosperity and anchors for robust regional integration.

“Together, we can build regional value chains, shared digital ecosystems and energy corridors that serve both our economies. Together, we can work to address shared challenges of environmental sustainability and climate change for our shared ecology,” he added.

“As we gather today to commemorate India’s Republic Day, we reaffirm the value of our long-standing partnership with Bangladesh and wish the people of Bangladesh peace, prosperity and success on their journey ahead,” he said.

“We have and will continue to support a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh.”