At the Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka, the evening of March 4th looked like a constellation. The opening ceremony of the seventh round of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Dialogue organised by Friends of Bangladesh in collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh) and India Foundation (Delhi) was about to begin. The theme was ‘Ground Rules of a New Paradigm’. On reaching the Banquet Hall, as the Vice President of Friends of Bangladesh (India chapter), I was overwhelmed to share the dais with dignitaries of the two nations – H.E. Mr. Harsh Vardhan Shringla (High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh), Mr. Shahriar Alam (Hon’ble State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh), Mr. Alok Bansal (Director, India Foundation), Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali (Hon’ble Foreign Minister of Bangladesh), Mr. Ram Madhav (National General Secretary, BJP), Mr. ASM Shamsul Arefin (Coordinator, Friends of Bangladesh) and Mr. Nasiruddin Yusuff (Acting President, Friends of Bangladesh).

Over the course of five dialogues, the spectrum of discussion was defined as:

The very successful sixth round of the dialogue held in New Delhi in May 2015 titled ‘Bangladesh-India Relations – Bilateralism and Beyond’ had drawn forth a road-map to lift all interaction to an optimal level at the shortest possible time in the following three areas:

• i. Managing peaceful and prosperous International Borders and Security

• ii. Water security and joint Basin Management

• iii. Energy security and cross border generation and trade in power

• iv. Connectivity and Integrated Multimodal Communication-with special emphasis on utilizing inland waterways,

• v. Sub-regional and regional development and utilization of mega-architectures such as Regional and Continental Highways, Rail Networks, Sea Ports and Coastal Shipping,

• vi. Investment, production, manufacturing and service sector complimentarily,

• vii. Education and Health sector Development and elimination of diseases, malnutrition, illiteracy and ignorance,

• viii. Designing sustainable and forward looking mechanisms in joint finance and marketing of both innovative and high-end value-added products and services,

• ix. Development of leadership across South Asia to institute measurable social and economic changes.

  As I spoke about the activities of the Friends of Bangladesh in strengthening the cordiality between the two nations, I was thinking how far the two countries have reached in terms of verifiable progress in the three areas discussed in the sixth round. And honestly, I feel elated to know a lot has been done and is being done.

  The next day I got an opportunity to sit and listen to some of the best minds of the two nations speak on topics like Security Cooperation, Economic Cooperation and Connectivity. The morning session was a discussion on: Establishing a dynamic security and confidence architecture for South Asia-encompassing border management, preventing Trans-national crimes and trade in narcotic and psychotropic substance, and Dealing with radicalization and evolving a regional de-radicalization strategy. Shri M.J. Akbar (MP, National Spokesperson of BJP and Director of India Foundation) won hearts as usual with his marvellous lecture, and my personal favourite was the keynote paper by Dr. Sreeradha Datta (Director, MAKAIAS, Kolkata).

  The second session began after lunch and it was about investment, production, manufacturing and service sector complimentarily between the two countries, and Designing sustainable and forward looking mechanisms in joint finance and marketing of both innovative and high-end value-added products and services. In this session the keynote papers by Dr. Gowher Rizvi (Advisor to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Bangladesh) and Shri Shakti Sinha (Director, South Asian Institute for Strategic Affairs, New Delhi) were the most important. Amongst the panellists my favourites were the words of Shri Binod Bawri (Director, India Foundation) and Ms. Sreepriya Ranganathan (MEA, Government of India).

  The third session was a discussion about Connectivity and Integrated Multimodal Communication-with special emphasis on utilizing inland waterways, rail networks, sea ports and coastal shipping, and Generation, grid and trading in power and energy; designing innovative market solutions for securitising the power and energy sector. While the Chair’s Speech by Shri Ram Madhav was captivating, the keynote paper by Prof. Veena Sikri (former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh) was significant.

  The seventh round of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Dialogue ended with adoption of the Dhaka Declaration. It is an honour to be the Vice President of an organisation like the Friends of Bangladesh. I look forward to a stronger and healthier bond between the two nations. Sometimes, only cricket can make us rival teams.

  • a. Establishing a dynamic security and confidence architecture for South-Asia encompassing border management, preventing trans-national crimes and trade in narcotic and psychotropic substances,

  • b. Establishing intense connectivity networks through infrastructure development reconnecting the ancient production trade value chains,

  • c. Establishing a comprehensive water and energy security model for South Asia.