Dhaka Names Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam As New Envoy to India
The appointment comes at a time when India and Bangladesh have a lot to resolve between them, starting from the renewal of Ganga Water Treaty.
New Delhi: With a major task in hand to smoothen the rough edges in the India-Bangladesh ties, Dhaka’s current Foreign Secretary, Mr Asad Alam Siam, will assume his duties as the new High Commissioner to India on November 16. He replaces Mr Riaz Hamidullah, who has now taken charge as the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in Geneva and Ambassador to Switzerland.
The appointment comes at a time when India and Bangladesh have a lot to resolve between them, starting from the renewal of Ganga Water Treaty. The senior most diplomat of the Bangladesh government also faces a tough task of smoothing the rough edges in the India-Bangladesh ties that have cropped up since the interim government of Muhammad Yunus took charge. The relationship between the two nations is yet to reach its true potential and warmth as it had pre Yunus days.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman did not attend the BRICS Summit in New Delhi in which he was invited as the head of the BIMSTEC grouping. While Mr Rahman is touring several countries, he is yet to schedule a trip to India. The repatriation of former Bangladesh PM Ms Sheikh Hasina is yet another thorny issue. Besides, there are regular anti-India statements coming out of Bangladesh the latest being an allegation by Mr Rahman’s Political Assistant Mohammad Rashed Khan that the Jamaat-e-Islami’s secretary general, Mia Golam Porwar, held a secret meeting with a senior Indian intelligence official while accusing the party of being involved “in a deep conspiracy against the state.”
Bangladesh media house Prothom Alo reported that on Monday, Mr Rashed Khan wrote in a Facebook post that Mr Porwar, Jamaat leader ATM Masum and one other person had met a senior Indian intelligence official at a house in Baridhara in Dhaka on 16 September after Maghrib prayers. Mr Khan claimed that the Jamaat delegation travelled in the vehicle to Hotel Six Seasons to meet the Indian intelligence official before switching to another vehicle to leave the place, the United News of Bangladesh quoted Mr Khan as saying.
“Those who speak against India throughout the day—why, and in whose interests, did they take part in a secret meeting with this Indian intelligence official? Meeting an Indian diplomat and meeting a senior Indian intelligence official are not the same thing. If Mia Golam Porwar practises ethical politics, I hope he will clarify the details of this secret meeting. Otherwise, it will have to be assumed that Jamaat is involved in a deep conspiracy against the state,” Mr Rashed wrote in his post. He added that the first step in the conspiracy was a plan by Jamaat to launch a movement alongside the Awami League, the newspaper said.
However, in a statement Jamaat strongly denied such allegations and said that it was an effort to tarnish the party’s image. It added that the party conducted its political activities through constitutional means and maintained diplomatic relations with foreign countries while upholding the dignity of the state. The party has challenged Mr Khan to prove his allegations.