‘PM’s India visit at appropriate time, national interest first’

Newly appointed State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said on Saturday that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would visit India at an appropriate time after sufficient progress had been made in discussions between the two countries.
The government wants a positive and effective relationship with neighbouring India without compromising Bangladesh’s national interests, he said. 
“We will engage with India. We want a positive relationship. But it has to be done by prioritising our national interests,” Kobir told journalists. He said Bangladesh wanted to maintain a positive and effective relationship with New Delhi as a close neighbour, but such engagement could not come at the expense of national interests. “We want a positive relationship with India. Why wouldn’t we? They are our neighbours. We should have a working relationship. Not only with India, but with no country can we do anything by compromising our national interests,” he added.
Asked about the timing of Tarique Rahman’s possible visit to India, Kobir said there was no reason to rush a head-of-government-level visit.
“If we reach an agreement based on our national interests tomorrow, we can go [to India] next week, or the week after. There is no rush in this regard,” he said.
He added that a prime ministerial-level visit required adequate preparations, substantive discussions and necessary groundwork between the two sides. “Both sides need to create the necessary groundwork before a meeting between the heads of the two governments and we are doing exactly that,” Kobir said.
On the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Kobir said Bangladesh had an extradition treaty with India and that the matter remained part of ongoing engagement between the two countries. He said Hasina fled to India following the July 2024 mass uprising and that judicial proceedings in several cases against her had already concluded, while a number of other cases remained pending. “So, these are not new conditions or a new kind of engagement. These are ongoing issues,” he said. Kobir said bringing back Hasina and other alleged offenders who had fled to India remained an issue linked to the expectations and sentiments of the people of Bangladesh.
“There are more criminals who have fled to India. This is a natural demand of the people of Bangladesh and a matter of their sentiment. We want to talk with India by giving priority to this process,” he said. Meanwhile, asked about the Mecca Pact, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam, speaking to journalists after a programme in the capital on Saturday, said Bangladesh’s interests and those of its people would remain the primary considerations in deciding whether to join any multilateral organisation.
The BNP organisational secretary and state minister said the government itself would decide whether Bangladesh would join any multilateral organisation or alliance.
“If any such decision is taken, Bangladesh’s media will be the first to know about it. We have no scope to be influenced by what is reported in the media of foreign countries,” she said.