Dhaka: India will go "out of the way" to forge stronger ties with Bangladesh, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said on Wednesday, hoping that Dhaka will not draw any "adverse inference" from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent controversial remarks about the country.
"I hope no adverse inference will be drawn by the Bangladesh government from the Prime Minister's remarks," Krishna said, trying to play down Singh's remarks that 25 per cent people of Bangladesh were anti-India.
The row created by Singh's remarks, that sparked sharp reaction here, figured in Krishna's separate interactions with journalists accompanying him to Dhaka and later with senior editors of Bangladesh late on Wednesday evening.
He said India "will go out of the way to forge stronger ties with Bangladesh". Describing India and Bangladesh as "natural allies", he said his three-day visit was aimed at further strengthening their friendship.
Asked if India and Bangladesh are ready to leave behind the controversy and move on, Krishna said, "I would not say a controversy has been created by the Prime Minister".
"The very fact that the Prime Minister spoke to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina is indicative of the fact that our Prime Minister is in favour of strong India-Bangladesh relations," he said, adding "the Prime Minister has been a champion of India-Bangladesh relations".
He said a clarification was issued by the External Affairs Ministry and "India-Bangladesh relationship is very close to the Prime Minister's heart".
When a Bangladeshi editor pointed out that Singh's controversial remarks reflected the "mindset" of a section of the Indian establishment which fed him with "wrong" information, Krishna said "I had a meeting with the Prime Minister three days ago and the PM has conveyed in unequivocal terms of his affection for the people of Bangladesh and the leadership of Bangladesh."
The External Affairs Minister said "there is no reservation on the part of India and its people about relations with Bangladesh."
"There is no factor which limits our relationship. Sky is the limit for our bilateral relations," he said, launching a charm offensive on the opening day of his three-day visit aimed at containing the fall-out of the Prime Minister’s remarks.
The "off-the-record" remarks were contained in the official transcripts of Singh's remarks to editors in New Delhi last week which were later edited out of the transcripts.
Krishna holds formal talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni and call on President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tomorrow when the two countries also sign several documents on transit, border issue and Teesta river water-sharing.
When another Bangladeshi editor pointed to a sense of "frustration" in his country over the pace of implementation of 51 decisions contained in the joint communique adopted during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Delhi in January last year, he admitted "certain delays" and said the gestation period in a democratic set-up was longer but the two countries were well set to get the projects implemented.
The Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Rajit Mitter said a lot of work has been done in bilateral cooperation in power sector and a long-term power purchase agreement between the two countries is in the final stage.
Krishna said "history will judge us differently if we do not live up to the promises made in the joint communique."
To a question about extradition of more ULFA insurgent leaders particularly Anoop Chetia who has served out his sentence in Bangladesh, Krishna said India has received "excellent security cooperation" from the government of Bangladesh and "we have been assured that the territory of Bangladesh will not be used by anti-India elements."
"The government of Bangladesh has been extremely helpful in getting the insurgent leaders," he added.
Asked about a solution to Teesta river water-sharing and boundary issue festering since long, Krishna said "given the goodwill on both sides, I'm extremely optimistic that the two issues would be sorted out and I am confident that an acceptable and amicable solution will be worked out."
Asked about killings along the Indo-Bangladesh border, Krishna said "we will have to deal with the border situation in a humanitarian manner."
"There is no justification in the killing of innocent people. But at the same time, border management is the responsibility of both the governments and border rules have to be adhered to," Krishna said.
He said border killings in this year so far have come down drastically and "we should aim at bringing it down to zero level."
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