Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Bangladesh wants to maintain cooperation and a constructive working relationship with India despite existing challenges, Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir said on Saturday.
“We want cooperation with India, but it must be based on mutual respect. We should have a good working relationship with India,” Kobir said during a panel discussion at a conference on economic diplomacy.
The event, organised by Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), was attended by senior government officials, diplomats, development partners and private-sector representatives.
Kobir said it was standard diplomatic practice to maintain normal working relations with neighbouring countries and that the government intended to strengthen engagement with New Delhi.
“You know, we’ve made a visit. We expect visits to Dhaka, and either way, we will build the visibility of a working relationship with India. We intend to do that. But the environment must be conducive to accommodating this approach,” he said.
Referring to bilateral ties, Kobir said the current government inherited a “tremendous deficit” in the relationship over the past 15 years.
“It was one way, and it was not done with the interests of the people of Bangladesh in mind,” he said.
However, he expressed optimism following the recent visit of Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman to New Delhi and pointed to a positive mindset among the leadership of both countries.
“We can do that. And it can be achievable. Of course, there are challenges. There are always challenges. When you have a terrorist who has fled from Bangladesh after killing one and a half thousand people, and who, to date, has shown no remorse and is trying to destabilise the country from over there, of course, there are challenges,” Kobir said.
He added that both countries must address challenges pragmatically and work together. “So, the reset must realise that Sheikh Hasina does not exist in today’s Bangladesh politics,” he said.
The conference featured sessions on trade and investment policy, finance and commerce reforms, and emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, creative industries and sports, with a focus on Bangladesh’s economic diplomacy roadmap for 2026.