BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

A six member delegation from Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) led by Major General Muhammad Imrul Quayes, ndc, psc, participated in the BIISS- Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) Bilateral Dialogue on Four Decades of India-Bangladesh Relations: What Lies Ahead? on May 9-10, 2011 in IDSA, New Delhi. The other members of the delegation were: Mr. AKM Abdus Sabur, Research Director, Dr. Shaheen Afroze, Research Director, Dr. Mohd. Mahfuz Kabir, Research Fellow, Ms. Segufta Hossain, Research Fellow, and Mr. Ishtiaque Selim, Research Fellow of BIISS. Besides the Inaugural and Concluding session, altogether twelve presentations were made from Bangladesh and India perspectives on six themes. The themes were: South Asia and the International order; Challenges to the Regional Security; Indo-Bangladesh Trade: Challenges and Opportunities; Connectivity and Infrastructural Cooperation; Cooperation on Water and Energy Issues; and Security Dynamics and Indo-Bangladesh Relations. The Director General of IDSA, Mr. Narendra Sisodia welcomed the delegation. The Keynote Address was delivered by Mahbub Hassan Saleh, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India. Ambassador Veena Sikri, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Major General Imrul Quayes and Dr Arvind Gupta also addressed the session. In the concluding session, a roundtable discussion was held on Reappraising India-Bangladesh Relations: A Way Forward which was chaired by Ambassador I. P. Khosla.