In a earlier go to to China, Muhammad Yunus had sought to place Bangladesh as a key regional accomplice for commerce, logistics and manufacturing. Addressing Chinese language officers, he pointed to the geographical constraints of India’s northeastern states.
Seeking to court docket an argument amid the India-Pakistan battle that concluded in a ceasefire, the Bangladesh authorities’s Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has once more raked up India’s northeastern states as he proposed an financial integration plan together with Nepal and Bhutan additionally.
Throughout a gathering in Dhaka with the visiting deputy speaker of Nepal’s Home of Representatives, Yunus emphasised the significance of cross-border cooperation in sectors akin to hydropower, healthcare, and transport infrastructure.
Highlighting the necessity for deeper regional ties by way of shared initiatives, he mentioned, “There must be an built-in financial plan for Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Seven Sisters.”
The dialogue targeted notably on hydropower collaboration between Bangladesh and Nepal, with each side recognising the worth of the just lately signed Bangladesh-Nepal-India Tripartite Energy Gross sales Settlement. This deal allows Bangladesh to import 40 megawatts of electrical energy from Nepal utilizing India’s energy grid.
Past vitality, Yunus additionally underscored Bangladesh’s efforts to spice up regional healthcare. He talked about {that a} deliberate 1,000-bed hospital in Rangpur can be open to sufferers from Nepal and Bhutan, serving to to strengthen what he termed “regional well being safety and shared prosperity.”
“Our upcoming 1,000-bed hospital in Rangpur shall be open to sufferers from Nepal and Bhutan as properly. We consider in regional well being safety and shared prosperity,” he mentioned.
Yunus’ earlier remarks on India’s Northeast
In a earlier go to to China, Muhammad Yunus had sought to place Bangladesh as a key regional accomplice for commerce, logistics and manufacturing. Addressing Chinese language officers, he pointed to the geographical constraints of India’s northeastern states.
“Seven states of jap India — the seven sisters — they’re landlocked. They don’t have any method to attain out to the ocean. We’re the one guardian of the ocean,” he mentioned, inviting better Chinese language financial engagement by way of Bangladesh.
He additional inspired China to collaborate with the area’s strengths: “Construct issues, produce issues, market issues. Nepal has hydropower, Bhutan has hydropower, we will carry to our goal. You’ll be able to produce in Bangladesh and promote in China.”
Nonetheless, these feedback drew criticism. Indian economist Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Financial Advisory Council, questioned the relevance of invoking India’s inside geography in a pitch to Beijing. He posted on X (previously Twitter), “Attention-grabbing that Yunus is making a public attraction to the Chinese language on the idea that 7 states in India are landlocked. China is welcome to spend money on Bangladesh, however what precisely is the importance of seven Indian states being landlocked?”