Editorial
Foreign Minister's futile trip
Disappointing for Bangladesh
DIPU Moni has returned empty handed but with bagful of oft repeated promises. We have every reason to feel let down. And we cannot but express our dismay at the Indian government's repetition of pledges without really doing anything substantive to deliver on those.
Looking back at the last five years of Bangladesh-India relationship is essential; and an objective stocktaking of what was delivered to India and what Bangladesh received in return is very much in order. As far as fulfilling of commitments we are afraid it has been largely a one way traffic from Bangladesh.
We find it inexplicable that India should cite internal political dynamics as reason for its failure to deliver after nearly two years of the signing of the additional protocol. And it should not be for our foreign minister to call at the doors of the opposition parties in this regard. She had tried to convince BJP this time to soften its stand on the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) as she had done in the recent past to convince Mamata Banerjee to relent on the Teesta issue.
Bangladesh needs to make it clear to India that on it rests the onus of fulfilling the bilateral commitments made to Bangladesh. And it is for the Indian government to resolve the internal issues that stand in the way of it. And unless a definitive progress is made with regards to both the LBA and Teesta water sharing treaty in the next four months, the future course of the bilateral relationship is likely to receive a serious setback.
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