Press Release 

Curtain Raiser to “Indo Bangladesh Summit” highlights scope for furthering deeper understanding between India and Bangladesh at a people level.

Asian Confluence hosted a webinar on the theme “Bangladesh - India Relations: New Dimensions and Opportunities, Perspectives in the Third Space” as a run up event to the forthcoming virtual summit to be held between the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India on 17^th December 2020. The inaugural addresses were given by H.E. Mr. Vikram Doraiswamy, High Commissioner, India in Bangladesh and H.E. Md. Shahriar Alam, MP, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bangladesh after jointly releasing a summary report on report titled “Bangladesh-India Relations: New Dimensions and Opportunities”, prepared by the Asian Confluence. The Report includes a survey conducted by the Asian Confluence and explores  the issues related to connectivity, trade and investment, agriculture, energy cooperation, border infrastructure, Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin, tourism, public healthcare and traditional medicine, and suggests the opportunities in these sectors and the way forward which can aid in strengthening the relationship between the two countries.

In his address H.E. Vikram Doraiswamy highlighted the need to look at macro issues from a grass root level. “Only when the macro issues are broken down into smaller parts it can be dealt with very efficiently”. Highlighting on the history of Bangladesh and India, he stressed on the importance of the year 1971 as the foundational rock for the diplomatic relationships between India and Bangladesh.

In his opening Address H.E Md. Shahriar Alam, MP, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bangladesh recalled the support provided by Indian government and people during the liberation movement of Bangladesh. He noted that despite challenges India and Bangladesh relationships continue to be stable and has flourished in the past few decades. He note that as a member of the UN security council, India can now play a major role in the region to tackle difficult issues such as the Rohingya issue in Bangladesh. He also highlighted that Bangladesh is working on Sustainable development and socio-economic development keeping in mind their vision for 2041.

The Report release was followed by session panel discussion chaired by Amb. Pinak Ranjan Chakraborty. The panellists included Dr. Atiur Rahman, Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank, Dhaka; Amb. Riewad V Warjri, Meghalaya; Dr. Selim Raihan, Executive Director, SANEM, Dhaka; Ms. Jahnabi Phookan, President, FICCI FLO; Dr. Mizanur Rahman, Commissioner, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission, Dhaka; Dr. Sreeradha Dutta, Center Head, Neighbourhood Studies, (VIF); Mr. Sahidul Hasan Khokon, Director, Centre for Bangladesh-India Relations, Dhaka; Dr. Syed Ferhat Anwar, Professor, Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University, and Chief Patron of the Marketing Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka; and Dr. Prabir De, Professor, ASEAN-India Center, RIS, New Delhi / Kolkata. Stronger ties between the North Eastern India and Bangladesh for mutual benefit was highlighted across the panel.