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Foreign Affairs Advisor Md. Towhid Hossain has said that Bangladesh-India relations should not be ‘government-centric’.

He made this comment in an interview given to Indian media outlet The Hindu on Monday (February 17). In it, he discussed several issues of Bangladesh.

Foreign Affairs Advisor Towhid Hossain met Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday on the sidelines of the 8th Indian Ocean Conference in Muscat, the capital of Oman. During the discussions, emphasis was placed on working together to resolve the challenges facing the two countries. After the meeting, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus may meet on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit to be held in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, next April. The Foreign Affairs Advisor gave this interview to The Hindu the next day.

Asked about the meeting with S Jaishankar amid the tense relations between India and Bangladesh, Towhid Hossain said, “India was used to a type of relationship for more than 15 years. Suddenly, it broke down quickly. Maybe it took some time to adjust to the new reality, so there was definitely a lot of hostility and discomfort in the relationship. But I think it should really end after six months.”

Towhid Hossain said, “Our bilateral relations should be normalized, which is already happening in some areas. For example, there was a short-term slowdown in trade, but it has picked up again. So these indicate that the two countries, at least in the private sector, people want to interact with each other and it shows that we are interested. Both countries have interests in each other and we need to take care of them.”

On India’s concerns about minorities in Bangladesh, the Foreign Advisor said, “Hindu or other minority communities living in Bangladesh are equal citizens like Muslims or the majority community. They are citizens entitled to equal rights and the same protection.” And it is the job of the Bangladesh government, they are doing it, to protect them (minorities) like any other citizen of the country. But after Sheikh Hasina resigned on August 5 last year, an almost inexplicable frenzy was created in the Indian media about this issue, most of which is based on lies.

Asked about India’s action against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Touhid Hossain said, “There is a case against Sheikh Hasina and we have asked India to send her back to face trial. Until the Indian government does not do that, we hope that they can at least impose some restrictions on her so that she does not make such provocative and false statements.”

Regarding the demolition of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house, the Foreign Advisor said, “A mob can do something, but it does not have the support of the government.”

Regarding the excesses of the BSFA on the border, Touhid Hossain said, “In 2024, 24 people were shot at the border, half of which were during the previous government’s tenure. This has not happened anywhere else in the world. I think you will agree with me on this. Because, the Indian side often says that since criminal activities occur, this is happening. Criminal activities occur at every border in the world, but nowhere do people get shot and killed like this. If a crime occurs, you arrest them and take them to court.” Whether it is imprisonment or the court can give any verdict. But you cannot kill him.

On Adani’s power deal, he said, “I think we negotiate in two stages, one before signing the deal, and secondly after signing the deal. We have to proceed as per the deal. But if we feel that it has not been done properly, we can always mutually agree to re-examine it. In my opinion, we will look at it with the Adani group and try to make it more rational. I am not a technician, a technical person. So I cannot go into the details properly. But compared to other deals, it has been found that the price of power is abnormally high. So we believe that it should be renegotiated, especially on the issue of buying coal. Any rational person would say that coal should be bought for this project at the best possible price in the world market. In this case, that has not been done. So in these areas, we can probably negotiate with Adani with a good heart and we want to do that.” For now, we have requested to provide electricity because we need electricity and our plan is based on their supply of electricity. So we want them to provide electricity and then we will pay for it.

Asked whether India-Bangladesh relations can return to their previous state, he said, “Why should we look only at the last 15 years? Even during the BNP regime (1996-2001), trade between the two countries increased rapidly. I don’t think the relationship should be government-centric. We had the Ganga Accord in 1996-1997. So I think whatever government is in power in the capitals of our two countries, whatever party is in power, should not affect our relationship. Because the relationship is based on mutual interest and mutual respect. I believe both sides understand what their interests are and we can maintain very good relations with India.”

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