Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh to visit Bangladesh on December 4

NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh will be in Dhaka on a daylong trip on December 4 ahead of the reintroduction of the constitutional amendment bill in Rajya Sabha to ratify the historic Indo-Bangla Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) and amid continuing political violence in Bangladesh spearheaded by the radical forces that has emerged as a headache for Delhi.

Singh’s possible visit is being kept low-key keeping sensitivities in mind ahead of January 5 Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh that has polarised the country yet again on lines of secular and radical ideologies. India is cautious so that it does not become a factor in the polls in the neighbouring country and understandably Foreign Security wants to make a quiet trip, official sources pointed out.

The sources claimed that Singh’s trip was part of the visits any Foreign Secretary (FS) makes to the neighbouring countries after taking over charge. Since she had become FS last August, Singh visited Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

However, the trip could not be better timed. The Sheikh Hasina-led government is seeking an early ratification of LBA to showcase it as an achievement in the January elections. The Manmohan Singh-government has reached out to Opposition BJP on the issue amid an election season in the country. The LBA was signed when the PM visited Dhaka in September 2011. The trip would provide Singh an opportunity to discuss the LBA as well as proposed Teesta river water-sharing pact with her counterpart and political leadership including the PM in Dhaka.

Singh’s visit comes just two days before UN Assistant Secretary Oscar Fernandez-Taranco begins his Dhaka tour and will also give her chance to get a first-hand feel of the political standoff. The Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has refused to join the all-party government and boycott the polls. Violence has marred protests by the Opposition to drive home their point. The political stalemate and impending elections could also come up for discussion during Singh’s trip.

The US Assistant Secretary for South Asia Nisha Desai Biswal recently visited Dhaka and spoke with political leaders, apart from meeting the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appraised US President Barack Obama on the rise of radical forces in Bangladesh during his trip to Washington in September. Subsequently, the State Department advised its Ambassador in Dhaka Dan Mozena to consult the Indian government. Delhi is reportedly unhappy with Mozena’s reading of the situation in Bangladesh and his feedback to Washington.


Delhi is particularly worried over the outcome of the violence spearheaded by Jamaat-e-Islami and newly sprung radical groups like Hefezat-e-Islam. Jamaat, with support from ISI, has been supporting terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taebbya and use of Bangladesh territory for carrying out terror strikes in India in the past, an official alleged. India shares 4,097-km-long land boundary with Bangladesh, longest among all its neighbours.