Staff Reporter:
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain yesterday said the interim government has so far cancelled one agreement with India while some others, including the Adani power deal, are under review for pos-sible revision or cancellation.
“Only one agreement has been cancelled so far— that was a deal to purchase tugboats from India. After assessment, we found the project was not beneficial for Bangladesh,” he told during a media briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday afternoon.
He said the decision to cancel the tugboat procurement deal was taken following mutual understanding between Dhaka and New Delhi.
Touhid also said that the government is currently reviewing the Adani power purchase agreement and some other projects being implemented under India’s Line of Credit (LoC).
He noted that the government is currently reviewing several Indian-funded projects, as some of them appear to offer limited benefit or practicality from Bangladesh’s perspective.
Regarding Bangladesh’s request for the extradition of ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the adviser said there was “no update yet” from the Indian side.
Asked about the killing of three Bangladeshi nationals in Tripura, Touhid said India has not yet respond-ed to Dhaka’s official condemnation.
Responding to a question about the Indian statement on the killing incident, the adviser said Dhaka did not accept the Indian narrative.
“Both Bangladeshi and Indian laws prohibit such acts,” he said, adding, “We have sought justice and expect India to take appropriate action under the rule of law.”
Responding to another question on the forthcoming visit of Pakistan’s Finance Minister to Dhaka, the foreign affairs adviser said Bangladesh wishes to rebuild normal bilateral ties with Pakistan.
“It is natural that we will welcome such a visit to restore normal relations and expand economic coopera-tion, which had been intentionally restricted earlier (during Awami League regime). Bangladesh has economic interests with Pakistan, and we are moving forward in that direction,” Touhid added.
On the issue of the UN’s recent decision to reduce the number of peacekeepers, he clarified that the downsizing followed budgetary cuts by the United States.
The adviser dismissed allegations that the UN failed to inform Dhaka about the repatriation of Bangla-deshi peacekeepers.
Touhid said that Dhaka has been engaging with the UN to ensure that the reduction in the number of Bangladeshi peacekeepers remains below the proportionate level.
