Dhaka, Sep.7 (ANI): Emphasizing that the people of South Asia are second to none when it comes to their talent, their enterprise or their ability to cope with adversity, visiting Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Wednesday, appealed to the inhabitants of the region to realize the area's potential.
"We have to believe in the power of cooperative effort. We have to learn to trust each other and work with each other in our enlightened self-interest. There are difficulties and obstacles in the way of greater regional cooperation. But the people of our region have the imagination and maturity to find our own solutions to our own problems," Dr. Singh in his address to faculty and students of Dhaka University here.
Reflecting on the border issue bedeviling ties between India and Bangladesh, the Prime Minister said: "Our borders are a sovereign reality, but we can make them frontiers of hope and opportunity as we work to build our common prosperity. The effective management of our borders is probably the biggest challenge we face in developing our bilateral relations."
"The first essential step is to create a defined and peaceful boundary that will provide a stable and tranquil environment for cross-border cooperation. That is why both our governments have worked hard to resolve the outstanding boundary issues in the spirit of give and take," he added.
He said that the signing of a protocol to finalise the unresolved issues of the enclaves, areas under adverse possession and undemarcated areas was a historic agreement, and would be done without dislocating people living in the border areas.
Dr. Singh said that he was acutely conscious of the problems arising due to the incidents on the border, and added that the two governments had now put in place mechanisms to greatly reduce the scope for such incidents and strengthen mutual trust and goodwill among the border guarding forces and people living in the border areas. (ANI)
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