Dhaka-Delhi relations hindered due to lack of man-to-man connection

Staff Correspondent: Former Chairperson of the Centre for South Asian Studies and Professor of South Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India Dr Sanjay K Bhardwaj has said Bangladesh-India relationship is hindered due to a lack of people-to-people connection.
“There is a lack of communication and public diplomacy to improve the public perception of India in Bangladesh. Though there are good relations at the macro and mezzo level of government and civil society, the micro-level relations with the general people is deteriorating,” he said while speaking at a seminar on Monday.
Dr Bhardwaj also mentioned that the interference by the extra regional power in the internal politics of another country is due to weak democratic institutions.
He said India has more proactively shifted its policy approach from bilateralism to multilateralism, unilateralism to constructive unilateralism, and resource nationalism to resource sharing.
Dr Bhardwaj has identified inadequate economic force, bureaucratic and systematic accountability, federal and coalition politics as the structural hurdles, lack of balanced political perspective, inadequate use of soft power as well as uncertainties about China and United States relations as the major policy challenges of India-Bangladesh relations.
However, he noted decolonization mindset, open and constructive dialogue, sharing resources on various levels, such as health, science, and education as well as the institutionalization of democracy are the areas of mutual development.
Dr Bhardwaj concluded his lecture by calling for strong micro-level interaction as well as engaging in meaningful debates within the countries.
The seminar on ‘India-Bangladesh Relations: Opportunities and Challenges’ was held at North South University.
It was organized by the Center for Peace Studies (CPS) of the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG), North South University.
The seminar featured vibrant discussions and interactive participation by the audience. Participants expressed their appreciation for the meticulous session and successful execution of the seminar by the organizing committee.