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Neighbours in common joy

India's shared celebration highlights the importance it accords to its relation with Bangladesh, which can be taken to new heights by focusing on bright spots

Neighbours in common joy
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When Bangladesh fought against the Pakistani occupation troops during the 1971 War of Liberation, the most crucial support came from India — its next-door neighbour. India provided shelter and food to 10 million Bengalis who fled due to the Pakistani atrocities, before sending its troops to fight along with the Mukti Bahini guerrillas in the final days of the people's war that culminated in the December 16 victory in 1971. The liberation war was launched by the nation's founding leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 26 which is celebrated as the day of independence.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken off much of the shine, Bangladesh is launching a 10-day (March 17 to March 26) festivity to celebrate the 50th year of its independence. The ongoing celebration of the centenary of the Bangabandhu has added an extra flavour to the celebration.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on March 26 to take part in the celebrations on his first foreign trip after the pandemic. This will also mark the celebration of the 50th year of the Indian establishment of diplomatic relations with Bangladesh.

Modi will have few other firsts too. He will visit the mausoleum of Bangabandhu in the late leader's village home in Tungipara of Gopalganj district, 76 km southwest of capital Dhaka. After paying tribute to the great leader, the Indian Prime Minister will offer puja at a Matua community temple in the area's Orakandi and possibly go to another temple in the neighbouring Satkhira district bordering polls-bound West Bengal.

No other Indian leader has ever been to Bangabandhu's mausoleum or the Matua temples before.

Leaving aside the questions surrounding Modi's planned visit to the Matua temple, it is better to focus on the main purpose of his coming to Bangladesh — his second visit to the most dependable neighbour after his first trip in 2015.

To get an idea about what Modi seeks to accomplish during his visit, we get some clues from the video message he had sent during the start of the Mujib Borsha or Mujib's birth centenary celebration on March 17 last year.

Modi said that the legacy and inspiration of Bangabandhu has made "our heritage more comprehensive". He stated the two milestones that will take the development of Bangladesh and India to a new height and strengthen the bond of friendship between the two countries.

"The life of Bangabandhu gives a great message to the world in the 21st century," he said.

Bangladesh and India are now enjoying golden moments in their relations, rooted in the battleground of the 1971 war against Pakistan.

The bonhomie between the leaders of the two closest neighbours began in right earnest when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned to office with a comfortable win in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She had then established an excellent rapport with the then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an understanding being carried forward by Modi.

Modi is right in his remarks that "A new dimension has been added to our relations through Friendship Pipeline. Be it road, rail, air, waterway or internet, our cooperation in several sectors is connecting the people of our two countries even more."

Modi is an orator who is gifted to charm his audience. He will make very good use of this gift to mesmerize even his distractors who may have questions about his government's now-deferred move to offer Indian citizenship to the Hindus allegedly persecuted in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Modi's BJP-led government has dented New Delhi's harmony with Dhaka by bracketing Bangladesh as known for its better treatment of minorities. That is what the prevailing public perception is about Modi's administration. This planned Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Assam's NRC or National Register of Citizens, aimed at flushing out illegal migrants from Bangladesh had cast quite a deep shadow in Dhaka's otherwise high-flying ties with New Delhi.

Diplomats from the South Block had to spend a lot of energy and apply skills in restoring the ties from the jolts whatever small those might have been.

Bangladesh's upcoming national celebrations provide Modi with an ideal platform to highlight only the bright spots in the bilateral relations, pushing under the rug the issue like Teesta and border killings.

The celebration of the Golden Jubilee of our independence is also a celebration for India. Bangladesh's victory in the war was also a triumph for India. The blood of Bangladeshi Mukti jodhas had mingled with the Indian soldiers during the nine months of the hostilities. So their martyrs became our martyrs. Our heroes are theirs too.

Bangladesh is exceptionally upbeat about Modi's physical presence at the three historic events.

As Foreign Minister Abdul Momen said, it is a happy enough occasion for Bangladesh to welcome the Indian prime minister to these historic celebrations. Dhaka, he said, is in no mood to raise any unresolved issue with Modi. "This is not the appropriate occasion to discuss any unresolved issue," he reportedly said answering questions from a reporter who obviously wanted to know if the longstanding issue of sharing the waters of River Teesta will be raised during Modi's visit.

Modi's exclusive talk with his Bangladeshi counterpart is scheduled for March 27 afternoon, a few hours before he departs for New Delhi. This will be an event of curiosity. The two leaders may discuss any subject they find appropriate in taking their relations to a greater height.

The Indian prime minister, despite being the star campaigner, has taken his time out from his presence in the poll campaign in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. This indeed is a testimony of New Delhi's priority of its relations with Bangladesh which is at the heart of its Neighbourhood First policy.

South Asian leaders such as the president of the Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa are likely to join the celebrations, but their arrivals are spaced in a way that they are unlikely to share the same podium.

The writer was Minister (Press) of Bangladesh High Commission to New Delhi. Views expressed are personal

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