Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary, Sujatha Singh said on Wednesday that the parliamentary election should have the participation of maximum number of parties. “Yes…well, any election that is held should have the participation of maximum number of parties,” she said when asked whether India expected an inclusive poll shortly. She was talking to a selected group of senior journalists at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel..
“You have to have an election in order to build the institutions of democracy. Unless you have the election, how can you build the conditions of democratic process,” Sujatha said
India’s interest in Bangladesh is supporting the democratic process, as well as stability and prosperity of the country, Sujatha said while replying to a question.
Responding to a question, she said, “It’s for the people of Bangladesh to decide. We would like to see an election where people have a chance to exercise their franchise freely and fairly, and elections results accepted by people.”
“There is Election Commission in Bangladesh and the Commission has already announced the election schedule,” the Indian Foreign Secretary told a questioner.
Earlier, she met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia.
Quoting the Indian foreign secretary, BNP vice-chairman Shamser Mobin Chowdhury told reporters that Singh fully agreed with the observation of the BNP chairperson, saying that India wants to see that democracy gets strengthened in Bangladesh and political stability prevails.
The meeting was held at Khaleda’s Gulshan residence.
“The opposition leader told the Indian foreign secretary that political stability in Bangladesh was crucial to the interest of all the countries in the region,” Mobin added.
Quoting Khaleda Zia, the BNP leader said: “Since India is an important and neighbouring country of Bangladesh, the bilateral relations between the two countries should continue forward, ensuring mutual benefit.”
According to Mobin, the Indian foreign secretary recounted her country’s experience working with Khaleda Zia in the past, and hoped that they would be able to work with her in future. “The Indian foreign secretary said that the relation between the Indian government and the BNP improved after Khaleda’s visit to that country in 2012, and would grow stronger in future,” Mobin added.
“India wants the democratic process to continue in Bangladesh,” Mobin claimed.
The meeting was also attended by Reaz Rahman, and Indian High Commissio-ner Pankaj Saran.
-With The Independent input
