Bangladesh Chief Advisor Dr. Mohammad Yunus said on Wednesday that his country wants good relations with India and other neighbouring countries but it should be based on fairness and equality. In his televised address, Yunus said that after taking oath as the head of the administration, leaders of several other countries, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, had called him to congratulate him.
Dr. Mohammad Yunus said, “We want good relations with India and other neighboring countries, but these relations should be based on fairness and equality.” Nobel Prize winner Yunus (84) was sworn in as the head of the interim government on August 8. Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister and went to India after widespread protests against her government.
Yunus said Bangladesh has started high-level bilateral cooperation talks with India to deal with floods. He said, “I have also taken the initiative to revive SAARC to increase regional cooperation in South Asia.” The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Yunus said, “We want the world to recognize Bangladesh as a respectable democracy.” He said that the interim government has taken steps to form six commissions to reform six major areas in Bangladesh, including the election system, police administration, judiciary, constitution. Yunus said that the commissions are expected to start their work from October 1 and their work will be completed in the next three months.
He said that the main objective of the reforms is to ensure equal rights for all. Yunus said, “We have a lot of work ahead of us. We want to move forward together towards the same goal. We want to create a structure that will bring out the hidden talents within our new generation.”
