Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's Information and Broadcasting Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman has articulated how the India-Bangladesh relationship will proceed in the future. And it reflects Rahman's inclination to improve ties with India while negotiating from a position of mutual respect and mutual interest.
The remarks come in the backdrop of the incident at the Indira Gandhi International Airport with Zahed Ur Rahman in New Delhi last month.
Zahed Ur Rahman was stopped for questioning by the authorities after his name was reportedly flagged during a routine security check, Bangladesh's state-run BSS news agency reported. Rahman decided to return home and not enter India. Zahed Ur Rahman says he is open to returning, provided he receives a 'proper invite'.
Speaking on whether he will visit India after the incident, Zahed Ur Rahman said, "I will certainly go. I am making this very clear that if I receive a proper invitation, I will certainly go because I want to engage with India, logically and rationally."
Last month, the senior Bangladeshi official was travelling to India on a government invitation. He reportedly had a regular Bangladeshi passport with a SAARC visa and was not carrying a diplomatic passport, which is the usual practice for such visits, according to Bangladeshi media reports.
To express its "deep disappointment", Dhaka had even summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Bangladesh, Pawan Badhe, over the incident.
Zahed Ur Rahman, who was travelling to India to attend the 28th Meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association last month, was questioned by immigration authorities and kept waiting. That prompted him to skip the event and return to Bangladesh.
However, Rahman has made it clear that the current Bangladesh government wants to improve India-Bangladesh ties.
After Muhammad Yunus had taken charge as chief adviser of the interim government following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in 2024, the relationship between India and Bangladesh deteriorated sharply because of Yunus's statements. Zahed Ur Rahman said the Tarique Rahman government wants better ties with India.
"So, we want to engage with India from a position of mutual importance and mutual respect. Apart from business and trade, there are a lot of areas where we can improve ties. We have come down from the position we took earlier," Zahed Ur Rahman said.
"During the interim government the relationship went into a bad state. We want to keep that aside and engage with India. We want business and trade. Our exchanges can take place in many forms," Zahed Ur Rahman added.
The remarks indicate that Bangladesh is keen on improving cooperation and trade with India. Bangladesh shares most of its international boundary with India, and India has delivered on its promises of a "Neighbourhood First" policy.
During the Middle East war, India stepped in to avert a fuel crisis in the country by sending major consignments of diesel to Bangladesh, which was facing a critical fuel shortfall due to the war. New Delhi has been supplying diesel to Bangladesh under the 'India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline' initiative, which was operationalised in 2017.
While Tarique Rahman chose Malaysia and China for his first official visit abroad as prime minister and not India, analysts say not much should be read into it, even as issues like the announcement of the Teesta master plan and the Mongla Port redevelopment remain areas of concern.
