India's Bangladesh conundrum

Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri's Dhaka visit came at a critical moment in the history of India-Bangladesh relationship.

- SEEMA SENGUPTA

Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri's Dhaka visit came at a critical moment in the history of India-Bangladesh relationship. The imprisonment of a Hindu monk and reported persecution of minorities, triggering a downward spiral in an otherwise healthy association between the two neighbours, has set alarm bells ringing in India. Though tension has been intensifying, Md Touhid Hossain, adviser for foreign affairs to Bangladesh's interim government, remains upbeat about overcoming the impasse in the relationship. "Establishing mutual communication and meeting each other is very important to overcome any such stalemate," Hossain had asserted during a SAARC seminar in Dhaka.