AGARTALA, July 9 (TIWN): Former Foreign Minister of Bangladesh and Chairman of the Bangladesh Parliamentary standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Dr. Dipu Moni on Wednesday left an open invitation for extended multi-lateral relations with India, Bangladesh and other States of the South East Asia.

“I’m extending hand of cooperation for you to get the same from you and through you from the rest of India”, she said at Tripura Conclave - a one-day policy dialogue organized by TRIPURAINFOWAY.com at Agartala this afternoon. In her key-note address at the conclave, Dr. Dipu Moni said Bangladesh had extended support to India, especially Tripura for its shared proximity and cultural affinity factor with Bangladesh in trade, joint trade locations like Border Haats, power sharing, access to roads, transportation of foodgrains, heavy equipments and goods.

Bangladesh had its share of trade as well. Taking a step ahead, the former Bangladesh foreign minister today said that the relation could be now further extended to forge regional cooperation with sovereign States. “It might be given several nomenclatures. But then the opportunity remains the same. This scope
could be aptly tapped and it could become an extra-ordinary trade sector covering Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar”, she said.

Dr. Moni further stressed on multi-lateral understandings like BIMSTEC which could include States like Sri Lanka and Thailand in the regional cooperation design, with Thailand barely 600 Km away from Dhaka. “We want to stress on purpose and will at this stage. The entire strategy must be based on symbiotic relationship between all the partners of this understanding”, the former minister said adding that Bangladesh was ready to open Bangla-NE understandings as sub-regime under the
Indo-Bangla relationship.

She stressed on a Basin regime for further extended regional cooperation strategies and proposed the ‘Basin regime’. “The Basin Regime would include India, Bangladesh, Bhutam, Nepal, Myanmar,
China”, Dr. Moni added. Citing the relationship shared by India and Bangladesh since the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, Dr. Moni said that the relationship could grow exponentially. “NE has to secure itself against infiltrators and home grown elements taking shelter elsewhere. Bangladesh believes that development can’t be possible sans developing neighbours”, she said.

Dr. Moni urged for devising newer economic foreign policy and urged for acting in unison to ensure that both Indian and Bangladesh governments recognize the possibilities. “NE could be India’s Achilles’ heel. Bangladesh could heal it as a sine-qua-non.

The multi lateral processes involved in these regional groupings and the national foreign policy initiative are expected to gain traction under the new government led by new Prime Minister Narendra Modi who recently went on record saying that India’s future lied in the East in this century, something he called ‘Asian Century’.