India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj left Dhaka on Friday with the feeling of an “excellent start” to her new government’s relationship with Bangladesh.
Published : 27 Jun 2014, 02:55 PM
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Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque saw her off at the airport at about 1:30pm when she left by a special Air India flight.
Moments before her departure, her spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told journalists at the airport that in their view “the visit was extremely satisfying and fulfilling”.
Swaraj arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday in her first stand-alone visit to any country after taking charge last month.
In her first engagement on Thursday morning, she met her Bangladesh counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and discussed a whole range of bilateral issues.
Her visit came amid speculation that the change of regime in India may stand in the way of flourishing Dhaka-Delhi relationships, often described as being “at the best” in history during in the past five years when a Congress-led government was in power in Delhi.
But Swaraj gave a strong message that her government would not only continue but also build upon the momentum of the relations.
In her lecture on India-Bangladesh ties on Thursday evening, she made it clear that she came to Bangladesh “with a message of friendship and goodwill” from the newly elected government in India.
“I come with the goal of enhancing our relationship and mutual understanding,” she had said, adding that the potentials of partnership were “vast”.
She made a few emotional remarks while referring to the past such as “we shed blood together”, and, looking at the future, she said, “our destinies are interlinked”.
“We share not just our past but also our future,” she said, adding that “we have a vision for the future development of our region”.
A veteran politician, Swaraj, who became a Cabinet Minister in Haryana at the age of 25 in 1977, also announced an Indian grant of 600 million rupees for small development projects for this fiscal in a message that they would take the relations forward from where they were now.
This initiative to fund small projects began last year.
She met the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and handed over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation letter to her.