Bangladesh has invited Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma to visit Dhaka, the Chief Minister's Office in Guwahati has confirmed. In a letter written on July 5, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen praised Mr. Sarma's "innovative ventures" and said that the visit would provide both sides a better understanding of the developmental work that are taking place in Bangladesh.
Dr. Momen had visited Assam along with a delegation during May 28-29 for the third conference of Natural Allies in Development and Interdependence (NADI-3). During the conference, he had conveyed that the Bangladesh Government will "eliminate" radicalism from its soil. Chief Minister Sarma had expressed his ambition to turn Assam into an industrial hub. In the letter, Dr. Momen referred to the visit warmly and thanked the leader for the hospitality extended to his delegation.
Inviting Mr. Sarma, Dr. Momen called upon the northeastern states including Assam to "reap the benefits" of the developmental dividends of Bangladesh. "Bangladesh has achieved remarkable socio-economic advancement under the able and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh has been among the fastest growing economies of the world over the past decade," said Dr. Momen in his letter.
"Your visit will enable us to review the status, trend and composition of existing trade relationship and to explore the potentiality for cross-border economic interweaving, on other bilateral issues," said Dr. Momen.
Assam is currently hosting a delegation of Mukti Joddhas from Bangladesh who were welcomed by Mr. Sarma Tuesday evening in Guwahati. Addressing the meeting, Mr. Sarma praised Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina and said, her "determined steps" against terrorism and extremism have been instrumental in ensuring peace in both "inside and outside" Bangladesh.
Mr. Sarma said the tough actions against the ULFA leadership inside Bangladesh had "tremendously" helped Assam. "Without Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's law and order measures in Bangladesh, we would not have been able to welcome you to our peaceful Assam in this way," said Mr. Sarma welcoming the Mukti Joddhas from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is carrying out several major infrastructure and power projects, including major airports, bridges and power plants such as the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, that have the potential for creating regionwide developmental dynamics. For trade, connectivity, and natural resource management, it requires close coordination with the governments of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and in the recent years there have been demands in Dhaka to engage these States directly to impress upon them the requirement to work closely to deal with common problems.
Assam has been in the news in Bangladesh because of the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and that apart, the presence of alleged nationals of Bangladesh has been an issue in the politics of the State. Bangladesh has, however, maintained official silence on these matters terming them "internal issues" of India.
