Bangladesh-India Relations: The other face of a friend

Bangladesh-India Relations: The other face of a friend

These prickly remarks irked many in Bangladesh. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Bangladesh in Septem-ber 2011. Foreign Minister S M Krishna visited Bangladesh on July 6, 2011 by PM Singh’s remarks made at the meeting with Indian editors in the first week of July in New Delhi in which he said that 25% of Bangladeshi popula-tion was anti-India and in the clutches of the ISI.

During Mr Krishna’s visit the environment was further vitiated. Besides this when Bangladesh media raised the question about “killing of unarmed Bangla-deshi nationals by India’s trigger-happy Border Security Force (BSF).” According to Odhikar, a human rights organisation in Bangladesh, between January 1 and May10, 2011, 12 young unarmed Bangladeshi nationals were killed by the BSF.
In Bangladesh, India is viewed as a bully, throwing its weight around and threatening the sovereignty of its smaller neighbors. There are several issues between the two countries, These include water issue, land issue, fencing of border, Indian support to Chakma community, smuggling from India etc. India is continuously interfering into the internal affairs of Bangladesh. She is supporting the Chakma refugees of Bangladesh in order to create unrest in that country.

Human Rights Congress of Bangladeshi Minorities (HRCBM), a Hindu organiza-tion is creating communal violence in Bangladesh. It is facilitating the settlement of Hindus in border districts of the country in order to facilitate Indian annexation of border territory of Bangladesh.
Most important issue that mars bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh is water. Bangladesh, which shares 54 rivers with India as lower riparian, has serious differences with New Delhi regarding water sharing. a whole range of issues that continue to fuel political tension which, in turn, does not allow the resolution of differences over water.

Taliban may have future in govt

Taliban may have future in govt, says Cameron

The British prime minister, David Cameron, said on Tuesday Afghanistan’s Taliban could have a future as part of a government, as former militants did in Northern Ireland, but warned that those who did not lay down arms risked being killed.

Speaking alongside Afghan president Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Cameron said Britain would also step up aid to Afghanistan as troops were gradually withdrawn and unveiled plans for a new British Sandhurst-style academy to train Afghan army officers.

‘I’ve seen it in my own country, in Northern Ireland, where people who were involved in trying to kill, maim, and bomb civilians, police officers, army personnel, and even politicians, have actually become politicians themselves,’ Cameron said.

‘You are losing this fight,’ he said, referring to the militants who have been battling foreign forces and Karzai’s government since they were ousted in late 2001.

William and Catherine

William and Catherine make Canadian debut

       Prince William and new bride Princess Catherine arrived in Canada their international debut as Britain’s royal golden couple.

Star power will win skeptical Canadians over to the monarchy.

       William and Kate, her dark hair blowing in the wind, stepped off the plane under overcast skies to be greeted by dignitaries before rushing off to their first official engagement on foreign soil.

       Thousands desperate to glimpse newlyweds lined the streets of Ottawa ahead of a wreath-laying ceremony at a First World War memorial.

       Prince William has plenty of experience of royal duties, his wife — known until recently as Kate Middleton — is still a rookie in the public eye.

       At the start of the nine-day tour of the key British Commonwealth nation, Princess Catherine was to have an immediate chance to show she had learnt the ropes, meeting and greeting the gathering throng after the ceremony.

US drawdown raises concern

U.S. President Barack Obama

      President Barack Obama bet on continued progress in Afghanistan during his speech Wednesday night when he announced that all 33,000 surge troops would be withdrawn by summer 2012 — right in the middle of next year's US election season and Afghanistan's fighting season.

        Obama's decision overruled the advice of his military commanders and came with a declaration that the surge had succeeded and "the tide of war is receding" with the death of Osama Bin Laden, the apparent disarray of Al-Qaeda and the Taleban losing ground.

                "President Obama's speech on Afghanistan reflected the American consensus that the purpose of the US engagement in that country is largely completed." said Ibish.

        "The bottom line for the United States should be that Afghanistan is not a threat to regional security or a base for international terrorists." said Ibish.

        Military experts here are publicly uttering what they say the generals cannot: The withdrawal's second phase comes at a bad time, threatening the success of the whole campaign.

        The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said that Obama's Afghan timetable was more aggressive than he and his senior commanders had been prepared to accept and "support the president's decisions."

        At a Senate hearing Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed that the administration's focus was snow shifting to a longer-term development and political reconciliation, including "very preliminary outreach to members of the Taleban."

        Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the plan, and immediate withdrawal of foreign forces could stop "pointless bloodshed".

Aung San Suu Kyi will deliver her first-ever remarks to a US congressional committee

   Suu Kyi to address US Congress
 

Aung San Suu Kyi

      Pro-democracy leader of  Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi will deliver her first-ever remarks to a US congressional committee to raise awareness of human rights concerns, a lawmaker said Monday.

Suu Kyi has sent a recorded video message to be broadcast at a hearing today at the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on East Asia, said the US Campaign for Burma advocacy group.

              The hearing "will highlight these sham elections and Burma's difficult road ahead," a Republican Senator who heads the House subcommittee, said in a statement.

              Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest but was freed in November. Today's hearing is due to discuss last year's widely criticized election in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Sonia Gandhi visits Dhaka July 25

     

 Sonia Gandhi visits Dhaka July 25

 

India's Congress Party president Sonia Ghandhi is coming to Dhaka on July 25 to attend a special conference on disabled and autistic children.Prime minister Sheikh Hasina invited her to attend the conference and she accepted the invitation, foreign minister Dipu Moni told the media on Tuesday.

Indian yoga star vows to continue anti-graft fight

         An Indian yoga guru on Tuesday vowed to continue his fight against government corruption, as he left hospital following an eight-day hunger strike against top-level graft.

Swami Ramdev, also known as Baba Ramdev, insisted that his eight-day fast, which ended on Sunday ‘awakened the nation and today the people of this country have woken up’.

The bearded, saffron-robed guru was attempting to force the government to repatriate so-called ‘black money’, cash stored in foreign accounts suspected of being used for illegal transactions.

‘We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without Gaddafi,’

‘We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without Gaddafi,’

Rebels ‘tricked’ by Gaddafi troops

In Addis Ababa, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, on Monday pressed all African states to demand Gaddafi step down and take tougher action against his regime.

          Hillary also urged African countries to expel Gaddafi’s diplomats and increase their support for the opposition, saying their words and actions can help bring peace to Libya.

          Rebels said they suffered heavy losses in eastern Libya after being ‘tricked’ by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, as the US pressed Africa to take tougher action against the strongman’s regime.

The rebels meanwhile gained another diplomatic boost when Germany recognised their National Transitional Council as the ‘legitimate representative’ of the Libyan people.

          ‘Our men were tricked. Gaddafi’s soldiers pretended to surrender, coming with a white flag, and then they fired on us,’ Mussa al-Mograbi said.

Mograbi added that four of his men were killed and 30 wounded in a skirmish the previous day.

Senegal and Gambia are the only African states to have recognised the NTC as the legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people.

 Rebels said ‘We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without Gaddafi,’ he added.

          ‘Such political gains are key to the revolt and prove that Gaddafi’s regime has finished,’ he said.

Libya’s foreign ministry however denounced the visit as a ‘violation’ of Tripoli’s sovereignty.