Bangladesh's development not possible without good ties with India: FM Hasan Mahmud

Dhaka: Bangladesh's development is not possible without good relations with India as both countries share a common border of several thousand kilometers, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said on Monday.

Hasan, who is also the joint general secretary of the ruling Awami League party led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, made the remarks while responding to a question regarding a failed campaign by some groups on social media asking people to boycott Indian products.

"Our development is not possible without maintaining good relations with the country (India) with which we have a common border of several thousand kilometers on three sides", he told the reporters here.

Mahmud added it would be difficult as well to maintain peace and stability in Bangladesh without good relations with the next-door neighbour.

His comments came in response to a question on what he thought regarding an "India boycott" campaign mainly through social media like Facebook and YouTube, asking people to boycott Indian products, which drew little response.

The campaign is widely believed to be backed by ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) because of New Delhi’s "support" to Prime Minister Hasina’s ruling Awami League during the January 7 elections.

Mahmud, however, attributed directly the campaign to BNP, saying they launched it to create a crisis in the domestic market and destabilise Bangladesh's economy.

The minister called the campaign a "complete flop" and added the BNP would be further isolated if they came up with the call again.

"Their efforts (call for boycotting Indian products) went unsuccessful. They know it, too. It will be refused by the people of the country again if BNP comes up with the agenda afresh", he told reporters.

BNP, however, made no public statement asking people to boycott Indian products while media analysts suggested the campaign was initiated by social media influencers, who are critical of the ruling party and many of them spearhead it from outside Bangladesh.

Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra last week visited Bangladesh where he called on Prime Minister Hasina and other top leaders and reviewed New Delhi's strong bilateral relationship with Dhaka, including in areas such as security, water, trade and investment, power and energy, defence, connectivity, and sub-regional cooperation.

In the first official visit of a high-level official to Bangladesh after the formation of the new government in January 2024 here, Kwatra also met Foreign Minister Mahmud and his counterpart Masud Bin Momen.

Kwatra invited Prime Minister Hasina to visit New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first world leader to congratulate Hasina on her re-election.