External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday highlighted India’s strategic importance in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) as he spoke about the country’s 6,500km coastline and its geographical links with other members of the regional bloc.
The comments — made on the first day of the sixth Bimstec summit in Bangkok — comes days after Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, during a trip to China, described India’s Northeast as “landlocked” and positioned his country as the “guardian of ocean access” for the region.
“We, after all, have the longest coastline in the Bay of Bengal, of almost 6,500km. India shares borders not only with five Bimstec members and connects most of them, but also provides much of the interface between the Indian sub-continent and the Asean,” he said.
“Our north-eastern region in particular is emerging as a connectivity hub for Bimstec, with a myriad network of roads, railways, waterways, grids and pipelines,” the external affairs minister said in comments that can be interpreted as a rebuttal of Yunus’s attempt to project Bangladesh’s leverage on access to the Northeast.
Yunus, who heads a government that has made anti-India rhetoric its mainstay, has added a layer of complexity to India-Bangladesh ties by seeking China as a new partner.
Besides presenting Bangladesh as the primary gateway for the region’s maritime access, Yunus also encouraged Beijing to expand its economic influence in Bangladesh, calling the country the “only guardian of the ocean” in the region.
In his statement at Bimstec on Thursday, Jaishankar — albeit without referring specifically to Yunus’s remarks — took care to explain the importance of India’s cooperation and facilitation of the smooth flow of goods, services and people in the region.
“Keeping this geo-strategic factor in mind, we have devoted increasing energies and attention to the strengthening of Bimstec in the last decade. We also believe that cooperation is an integrated outlook, not one subject to cherry-picking,” the external affairs minister said.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had condemned Yunus’s remarks as “offensive”. Former Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh has warned Yunus against making “reckless comments” about India’s sovereignty.
Against this backdrop, all eyes have been on the Bimstec summit for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Bangkok on Thursday. The Bangladeshi establishment, after trying to downplay Yunus’s comments, has been claiming that he and Modi would hold a meeting on the sidelines of the summit. There, however, has not been any confirmation about such a meeting from the Indian side.
On Thursday evening, a picture of Modi and Yunus seated together at the Bimstec dinner circulated on social media. Though the Indian Prime Minister has a packed schedule on Friday, a foreign ministry insider did not rule out the possibility of Modi and Yunus coming face to face.
“The Bangladeshi side has been pushing for a meeting for quite some time.... The two leaders may come together for a photo opportunity as they will be at the same venue,” said the source.
While India has been engaging with Bangladesh and allowing the flow of goods through the land ports, New Delhi has maintained that overall relations between the two countries will be normal when an elected government assumes power in Bangladesh.