Top Indian economist advises Bangladesh government to prioritise local needs

A member of India's top planning body, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Ayog, has asked the Bangladesh government to stress on the needs of its own people first while building closer ties with India.

Bibek Debroy was delivering the chief guest's address at a discussion on strengthening Indo-Bangla ties at Dhaka on Wednesday.

Speakers at the event, organised by The Asian Age, highlighted possibilities in Bangladesh-India relations.

"When two countries build ties with priority being given to their own citizens, only then foreign affairs take place. In May 2014 India got a new government. There have been some changes in foreign relations since then. The impetus now is on the safety and security of one's own country first", he said.

The ex-Trinity College student and former Presidency College, Kolkata teacher said, "It is entirely up to a country to decide what is best for it and how it should be governed.

"Every country shall function according to its own priority and no other country can do that", he said.

He said Bangladesh and India are heirs to a common legacy.

Debroy was at his imaginative best while speaking about the challenges that the two

nations braved jointly.

"I am speaking of literal storms, we braved them in 1947, in 1952 and 1971. We have emerged from the storms together", he said and went on to add, "after that we saw the rainbow."

The keynote address was delivered by former Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman.

"This century is going to be Asia's century. India and Bangladesh will be the centre of focus of the Asian development", he said.

He said there have been instances of buying electricity from India, something which was unthinkable in the past.

He also used the opportunity to highlight areas where both countries could benefit from

Indian investments.

Indian Ambassador to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla suggested that the Bangladesh government could set up communication easily with India's northeastern states.

Former caretaker government adviser ABM Mirza Azizul Islam, Asian Age Chairman M Shoaib Choudhury, MP RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury were among some of the eminent

participants in the event.

Asian Age Editor-in-Chief Jesmin Chowdhury chaired the seminar while the English newspaper’s Acting Editor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah delivered the welcome address.