Govt wants balanced ties with all

The government is maintaining good relations with all countries to avoid overdependence on any single nation, Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain said yesterday.

Responding to a question on the interim administration's foreign policy, he said, "We are not doing anything that can harm the relations with anyone."

"For India, our objective is to maintain good relations based on mutual respect," he added.

India, along with China and Singapore, has sent medical teams to treat survivors of the Milestone School & College plane crash, which killed at least 34 people, mostly children.

"We sought information from our burn institute and informed India based on the requirement. On that basis, India sent a medical team," Touhid said.

Bangladesh-India ties soured after the fall of the Awami League government last year, with Sheikh Hasina fleeing to New Delhi following the 2024 uprising.

Asked if India's medical aid signals warming ties, he said Dhaka always wanted a good working relationship with India. "We continue to maintain this position. No one said we don't want good relations with India."

He also met Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen this week and discussed the planned hydropower project on the Yarlung Zangbo river in Tibet, which flows into Bangladesh as the Brahmaputra via India.

Yao assured Bangladesh that the project includes no irrigation or water withdrawal, Touhid said.

"We said we want exchange of hydrological data between the experts and that they should consider our concerns," the adviser said.

This does not mean that they will not go ahead with their plan to build the dam, he said, adding, "We will try that we don't face any harmful impacts or it is minimum. India also has interest in it and is looking at it."

"All our rivers originate elsewhere. We cannot prevent other countries from building structures. We have to ensure they don't affect us, or that the impact is very limited."

On the mission of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Bangladesh, Touhid said the MoU with the OHCHR  in this regard was signed after considering national interest.

"I believe this will not go against the interest of Bangladesh," he said.

He said the OHCHR mission will be reviewed after three years, but the government can end it anytime if needed, which he believes will not be needed."