DHAKA: Interim govt chief adviser Muhammad Yunus Sunday said Bangladesh wants to maintain good relations with India while asserting that it should be based on equity and fairness. Yunus, 84, made the remarks while responding to a question at a meeting with students who had participated in the revolution that ousted PM Sheikh Hasina last month, state-run BSS news agency reported.”We need to maintain good relations with India. But it should be based on equity and fairness,” the chief adviser’s special assistant Mahfuj Alam quoted him as saying.
Yunus’ special assistant Mahfuj Alam, who briefed the media after the meeting, said the chief adviser said Bangladesh always gives importance to mutual respect and equity in maintaining relations with neighbours. He stressed reviving SAARC to enhance regional cooperation. The interim government headed by Yunus was appointed days after Hasina resigned and fled to India on August 5 following unprecedented anti-government student-led protests over a controversial quota system in government jobs.
Last week, Yunus expressed a desire for good ties with India but insisted Delhi must abandon the narrative that only Hasina’s leadership ensures the country’s stability.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain Sunday expressed surprise over defence minister Rajnath Singh’s remarks, emphasising that he does not foresee any immediate threat of conflict between the neighbours. “I am more surprised than concerned. I don’t understand why he (Singh) made such remarks… I don’t find any reason behind that,” he told reporters. Singh had called upon the military brass to analyse the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the current situation in Bangladesh to “predict” any future problems and stay prepared.