Former Bangla FM wants extended multilateral cooperation

Former foreign minister of Bangladesh Dipu Moni today called for an extended multilateral cooperation involving Bangladesh, India and other states in South-East Asia.
Moni, also chairman of the Bangladesh Parliamentary standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, was here to take part in Tripura Conclave, a one-day policy dialogue.
In her key-note address, Moni referred to Bangladesh's support to India, especially Tripura, in trade, joint trade locations like Border Haats, power sharing, access to roads, transportation of foodgrains, heavy equipment and goods.
Bangladesh had its share of trade as well, she acknowledged.
She said that the relation could be extended to forge regional cooperation with other sovereign states.

"It might be given several nomenclatures, but then the opportunity remains the same. This scope could be aptly tapped and it could become an extraordinary trade sector covering Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar," she said.

Moni stressed on foray beyond existing associations like the Commonwealth, SAARC etc and stressed on multi-lateral understandings like BIMSTEC which could include states like Sri Lanka and Thailand in the regional cooperation design, with Thailand barely 600 Km away from Dhaka.
The former minister said that Bangladesh was ready to open Bangla-NE understandings as sub-regime under the Indo-Bangla relationship.
She stressed on creating a "Basin Regime" for further extended regional cooperation. "The Basin Regime would include India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, China," Moni said.

She said that processes involved in these regional groupings and the national foreign policy initiatives are expected to gain traction under the new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who recently went on record saying that India's future lied in the East in this century, something he called 'Asian Century'.