Yunus is working to improve ties with India, says Bangladesh's finance adviser

Bangladesh interim government's finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Tuesday said Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has taken steps to ease strained ties with New Delhi while his administration was working to develop economic relations with India by separating economic interests from "political rhetoric."

"The chief adviser is working to improve diplomatic relations with India, and he himself has also been speaking to various stakeholders on the issue," he told reporters after a meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase at his office.

Asked if Yunus directly spoke to India, Ahmed said the chief adviser "has not" but he did speak to those associated with the matter.

"Our trade policy is not driven by political considerations. If importing rice from India is cheaper than sourcing it from Vietnam or elsewhere, then it makes economic sense to buy the staple from India," he said.

The adviser, an economist, however, expressed optimism that bilateral relations would not decline further. Ahmed said Bangladesh on Tuesday approved a proposal to purchase 50,000 tonnes of rice from India, "as a means to seek good relations."

He said importing this rice would benefit Bangladesh, as sourcing rice from Vietnam, a major alternative, instead of India, would cost BDT 10 (USD 0.082) more per kilogram.

Ahmed's comments came as diplomatic analysts said the Dhaka-New Delhi relation was now at its lowest ebb since Bangladesh's 1971 Independence from Pakistan, with repeated summoning of their envoys in both countries and protests in front of Bangladeshi and Indian missions in both capitals and elsewhere in the two countries.

But the adviser said, "The situation has not reached such a bad stage."

"From the outside, it may sound like many things are happening...However, there are some statements that are difficult to shut out," Ahmed said.

Asked if "people or external forces" were making anti-India statements, he said, "We do not want any bitterness between the two nations. If anyone from outside is trying to instigate problems that is not in the interest of either country."

But, he said, these incidents did not represent the "national expression" and were rather "creating complicated situations for Bangladesh."