[ALOCHONA] "Improved India-Bangladesh ties would serve US interests," Moriarty said in the cable

WIKILEAKS EXPOSÉ: Bangladesh
Advisers finalised PM's India visit

Dhaka, Mar 18 (bdnews24.com) — A leaked cable suggests that Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina had "entrusted her own office with the preparations for her [Jan 10, 2010] visit [to India]" with other ministries and government bodies entering the ball game at the final stage.

The 'confidential' cable sent [to Washington] by US ambassador in Dhaka James F Moriarty and leaked by Wikileaks on Wednesday reveals that the decision was made to sidestep "the inertia within Bangladesh's bureaucracy." Moriarty's Jan 10, 2010 cable reveals details of his being briefed by the prime minister's foreign affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi, only hours before the start of the tour of India. The cable reads, "[Rizvi] reported that preparations had been completed for the PM's visit to New Delhi later in the day."

The cable also shed light on the rifts within the bureaucratic mechanism of the incumbent government including the ministry and the prime minister's advisers. The cable also claims Hasina's foreign affairs adviser said that the details of the tour and its preceding negotiations were kept under the wraps until the very end of the preparations. "The foreign minister [was] only being brought into the loop within the past week [first week of Jan 2010]," the cable reads, "Rizvi was dismissive of the foreign ministry bureaucracy, which he said lacked creativity and vision".

The adviser also told the ambassador about the government move to bring in the prime minister's administrative affairs adviser H T Imam and financial affairs adviser Mashiur Rahman, in the final stage "to help push through" the implementation of agreements that were stalled in red tapes.

'SABOTAGE'

When contacted over phone by bdnews24.com on Friday, Rizvi said, "No matter where and what is published, please verify the authenticity of the source and information." He allegedly told the ambassador that he thought that Hasina's decision to delay her return until Jan 13, and paying a one-day pilgrimage to Ajmer was a mistake. The adviser had also confided that he had "sabotaged" the PM's plan to prolong her stay in India and cancelled her stopover in Kolkata, the cable reveals.

It added that the adviser was worried that a 24-hour delay would give scope to the media and the opposition to make their stand about the visit before Hasina could address the nation on it. He pressed the prime minister to outline the results of the visit in an address in the parliament on her return.

Moriarty said in the cable, "According to Rizvi, the PM believed that the agreements would sell themselves. We discussed with Rizvi the possible benefits if the government were to offer to take the opposition into confidence and provide a separate briefing on the results of the visit."


RIZVI BRIEFS US ENVOY ON PRE-TOUR SITTINGS

The cable also claimed that the foreign affairs adviser had also divulged in the meeting results of his fourth sitting with Indian interlocutors, from which he returned on Jan 8, to prepare the ground for the prime minister's visit.

"Rizvi confessed that the Indian officials had initially been skeptical about what the visit could achieve … he told the ambassador that the stage had been set for agreements to 'transform' Indo-Bangladesh relations."

"Improved India-Bangladesh ties would serve US interests," Moriarty said in the cable. Rizvi also gave the ambassador insight about the main priority of the pre-tour discussions, "[the adviser] and his Indian interlocutors had instead focused primarily on the need to implement long dormant agreements on transit and interconnectivity".

Moriarty pointed out that at that time the Bangladesh media was more focused on "new, relatively minor, agreements (extradition, prisoner transfer, electricity sharing, etc.) that would likely be signed during the visit."

"According to Rizvi, there would be agreement on enhancing interconnectivity between India and Bangladesh focused on both expanding rail networks as well as water transport. The two sides would agree to allow access to Chittagong, Mongla, and Ashuganj ports in Bangladesh to India," the cable added.

In a separate note in the cable, the ambassador pointed out that the adviser also revealed that controversy rose over the Mongla port in the discussions because it would lead to diversion of trade from Kolkata's port, a touchy issue in West Bengal.

MARITIME BOUNDARY ISSUE HARD TO ADDRESS

In the cable, Moriarty said that he was informed by Rizvi beforehand that discussion on the demarcation of the Indo-Bangladesh maritime boundary did not go smoothly as "the Indians had been disappointed when Bangladesh unilaterally referred the maritime boundary dispute to international arbitration."

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=43&id=190185&hb=1

__._,_.___

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___