& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Transit for only peaceful purposes

Says Indian external affairs minister, leaves Dhaka

Diplomatic Correspondent
Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna yesterday asserted that the transit through Bangladesh is for peaceful purposes only.
Transit is for improving the lives of people. It will spur economic growth and development on both sides of the border; it is not simply a flow of goods and services across frontiers in the context of transit, he said while delivering a lecture prior to his departure from Dhaka ending his
three-day visit here.
Bangladesh International Institute of Strategic Studies organised the lecture on "India and Bangladesh: Partners in Progress" at its auditorium yesterday morning.
Replying to a question from the audience, he said India would transport only goods if the transit is given. He said India is always a peace-loving country and it wants peace, prosperity and stability in the region and also throughout the world.
He said there is no way India,
which extended tremendous support during Bangladesh's birth, could do anything that goes against Bangladesh. Highly praising Bangladesh for its recent economic development, Krishna said Bangladesh thanks to the achievements has reached the centre-stage of global affairs.
On Indo-Bangladesh commonality, the minister said India and Bangladesh have a natural propensity to work together in varied and
diverse areas.
Krishna said, "We face new challenges and non-traditional security threats. The rise of religious fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism is not unfamiliar to our region. Such forces sap the strength of our societies, threaten our state systems and are an impediment to our advancement."
He said India and Bangladesh have had good cooperation in fighting such forces and hoped that the two countries would continue to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations to secure the peoples and give them the hope of stability, development, peace and prosperity.
He expressed optimism that the outstanding land boundary issues between India and Bangladesh will be resolved in the near future in a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable manner.
The resolution of boundary and its demarcation will remove an impediment to our collaborative efforts for growth and development and enhance people-to-people exchanges, he added.
Krishna said the two countries have a very good agreement on the sharing of the Ganges waters which is being implemented sincerely by both sides. "I am optimistic that we shall reach similar conclusions on the sharing of the Teesta and Feni waters.11
He emphasised that it is necessary to deal with each other in a spirit of transpar-
ency and sincerity.
The Indian minister said he sees a growing enthusiasm for trade and economic cooperation between the two sides. "Both our economies are robust and have weathered the global economic downturn."
However, he said trade volumes between the two countries are low and stressed the importance of significantly increasing the volumes of trade through trade and investments in conjunction.
Krishna asked Bangladesh to welcome a number of Indian corporate entities who are looking forward to opportunities for investments in Bangladesh for mutual benefit.
On the issue of connectivity, he said access to goods and services across frontiers will improve the living conditions of people. "We cannot deprive them of this opportunity, we should see connectivity in a dynamic concept of markets that are growing rapidly on both sides of the borders; in the north east of India, the growth could be even more rapid than the rest of India."
"As the pie expands on both sides, the opportunities for business also expand exponentially," he added.
Bangladesh International Institute of Strategic Studies governing body Chairman Maj Gen Ferdous Mian chaired the session while its DG Maj Gen Imrul Quayes gave the welcome address. Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and other high officials, researchers, academicians
and diplomats were also present.
Before leaving for New Delhi yesterday Krishna visited the Dhaka University campus. He inaugurated renovation work of a few rooms of the arts faculty building there.