- Bangladesh and India share deep cultural ties, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman said
- He said bilateral relations focus on patient confidence-building and gradual normalisation
- Rahman said the two neighbours are "willing to engage, talk and take initiatives"
New Delhi and Dhaka are not starting from scratch but from memory of a relationship shaped by shared rivers, shared borders, and the kind of cultural proximity that makes formal diplomacy feel almost redundant. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, speaking to NDTV in his first interview with the Indian media since the new government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman came to power, described the future of bilateral ties through the prism of what he called the "slowly but surely" concept.
A reflection of this was seen during Bangladesh's National Day celebration in Delhi on March 26, when a live performance of the national anthems of the two neighbours was held in affirmation of strong ties. It was a moment worth holding on to, in Rahman's telling.
Rahman described the atmosphere in New Delhi as one of convergence with the two neighbours "willing to engage, talk and take initiatives." The bilateral ties are driven by efforts on both sides for normalisation, he said, adding what was needed now was the patience to build confidence incrementally without forcing the pace.
How India and Bangladesh, together as neighbours, deal with the disruption to global energy markets due to the crisis in the Middle East would become one of the early indicators of the reset in ties, Rahman told NDTV.
Bangladesh, like several South Asian economies, has felt the pressure of tightening crude supply chains. Rahman said India responded in no time when Dhaka reached out to its partners after the crisis reached his country.
"We have a pipeline and India is supplying diesel to Bangladesh," he said.
Rahman had been in Delhi recently, meeting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and senior officials, before NDTV caught up with him in Mauritius, where he was attending a separate engagement. He added that before travelling to Mauritius he requested India for an increase in supply of diesel to Bangladesh. Though there were logistical constraints, Rahman said New Delhi conveyed it would enhance supply once India's immediate domestic needs were addressed first.
With the Ganga Water Treaty signed in 1996 due for renegotiation later this year, Rahman described an equitable and climate-resilient arrangement for river-water sharing as a civilisational bond.
"Water is finite. Ganga means life," Rahman told NDTV, adding livelihoods on both sides of the border depend on the flow regimes of shared rivers. He expressed confidence that the "willingness and interest" he saw in New Delhi would translate into a solid framework. He said climate resilience as a shared concern addressed through shared resources could become the structural foundation of bilateral ties at least for the next three decades.
"People are people. Whether it is in India or Bangladesh, we are facing exactly the same type of climate crisis," he said.
Rahman also highlighted the importance of people to people ties and a smooth visa system on both sides.
Indicating a clear willingness to hit a reset in ties, which have seen some hurdles in recent times, the foreign minister referring to China said Dhaka did not see its foreign policy as a zero-sum game, and expressed hope that others would extend the same interpretive generosity. "Our relationship with other countries is not a problem," he said, adding that trade imbalances with other nations were driven by market forces and not strategic alignment.
Economic complementarity, cross-border connectivity and shared infrastructure must deliver tangible outcomes to people on both sides, Rahman said, adding India does not figure as an external partner but as a structural presence which is necessary.
