Fakhruddin Ahmed with Manmohan Singh on Monday. (AP)

New Delhi, April 2: India has a new best friend in the neighbourhood: the army-backed government of Fakhruddin Ahmed in Dhaka.

At the end of the 40-minute, first-ever meeting between Manmohan Singh and Ahmed here today, officials, usually given to platitudes when leaders meet, were beaming with pleasure.

From one description, the conversation seemed like a symphony of words. Whenever the Prime Minister raised any particular issue, Ahmed was ready with an answer. When Singh said there were Indian insurgent camps in Bangladesh, he got the reply: “We will help you deal with it.”

When Ahmed spoke about Bangladesh’s problems, whether it was Delhi’s heavy-handed manner over trade, or water, or even boundary demarcation, Singh emphasised that India wanted solutions to all issues.

The region, Singh said, must be reconnected in every way. He promised the beginning of a beautiful, new relationship with Dhaka.

A large part of the conversation revolved around the internal situation in Bangladesh and how Ahmed’s government was dealing with corruption, terrorism and religious fundamentalism.

Ahmed told the Prime Minister that matters had reached such a pass at home that there was no alternative but for the army to enforce law.

While the Prime Minister refrained from commenting on internal developments, including on when elections are going to be held in Bangladesh, there was an overwhelming sense that New Delhi was pleased with the way things were panning out, officials said.

“India has a vested interest in a prosperous, democratic and stable Bangladesh,” the Prime Minister told Ahmed.

Ahmed is also believed to have cleared, only a day before, a decision to throw open the country to investors, businessmen, tourists and journalists.

Bangladeshi officials, sensitive in the extreme about both perceived and imagined slights, pointed out this was a “very positive” meeting. They said that there was a “big opportunity” for both countries to bury the past and work for a new future.

“Since there was a very positive attitude on both sides, we hope that the relationship will take off on a higher trajectory,” Bangladeshi foreign secretary Touhid Hussain said.

Singh and Ahmed promised to reactivate all channels that had been dormant in these past years, whether this related to the joint working group on boundary, the joint commission on trade, or enhancing people-to-people relations.

The officials said the phrases — “people-to-people relations” and “improved connectivity” between the two countries, whether it was the bus or train or power stations in neighbouring districts — were the biggest change at the meeting.

Earlier, Indian officials would demand that Bangladesh give India “transit” to Indian goods and people to the Northeast, or point out that Dhaka should shut down Indian insurgent camps that were carrying out anti-Indian activities from Bangladesh.

This time round, though, the Indian tone was different. The Prime Minister emphasised that India would do its best to rectify the trade imbalance.