Bangladesh’s finance advisor says Yunus is working to improve relations with India

Salehuddin Ahmed, finance adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, said on Tuesday that Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus had taken steps to ease strained relations with New Delhi, while his administration was working to develop economic ties with India by separating economic interests from “political rhetoric”.

“The Chief Advisor is working to improve diplomatic relations with India and he himself is talking to various stakeholders on this issue,” he told reporters after the meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Government Procurement in his office.

Asked whether Yunus had spoken to India directly, Ahmed said the chief adviser had “not” but he had spoken to people associated with the matter.

“Our trade policy is not driven by political considerations. If importing rice from India is cheaper than importing from Vietnam or elsewhere, then buying rice from India makes economic sense,” he said.

However, an economist adviser expressed optimism that bilateral relations would not deteriorate further.

Ahmed said Bangladesh on Tuesday approved a proposal to buy 50,000 tonnes of rice from India “as a means of exploring good relations”. He said Bangladesh would benefit from this rice import, as it would cost BDT 10 (USD 0.082) more per kilogram to buy rice from Vietnam, a major alternative, instead of India.

Ahmed’s comments came as diplomatic analysts said Dhaka-New Delhi relations are now at their lowest level since Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, with their envoys in both countries being repeatedly summoned and protests taking place in front of Bangladeshi and Indian missions in both the capitals and elsewhere.

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But the adviser said, “The situation has not reached such a bad state.” Ahmed said, “From the outside, it may seem that many things are happening… However, there are some statements which are difficult to dismiss.”

Asked whether “people or external forces” were making anti-India statements, he said, “We do not want any bitterness between the two countries. If someone is trying to create trouble from outside, it is not in the interest of any country.” But, he said, these incidents do not represent “national expression” but are “creating complicated situations for Bangladesh.”