Humayun’s call to eat the country’s food instead of being busy with India

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir has questioned a journalist in this way in reply to the question whether there will be a meeting of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session, ‘When will you eat the country’s food if you keep saying India India empty-handedly’. At the same time he advised to come out of ‘India-fascination’ and give priority to the country’s interest.

When asked about this at a briefing with journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday (September 13), the state minister did not give any direct answer regarding the possibility of the meeting. Rather he called for viewing Bangladesh’s relations with India on the basis of bilateral interests.

Humayun Kabir said, “India to eat daily breakfast, India to eat lunch, India to eat dinner—then brother when will you eat the food of your own country?” After that he said, “If you keep doing India, India empty-handedly? Think of your own country.”

In reply to a journalist’s question about bilateral visit before going to a multilateral forum like the United Nations, Humayun Kabir said his statement has been presented wrongly. He never said that if one participates in any multilateral programme, meetings with leaders of other countries will not be held on the sidelines.

He said Bangladesh needs good working relations with India and the government wants to rearrange the relations of the two countries anew. For this reason he had spoken about giving importance to a separate bilateral visit with India. However, he did not say such a thing that after participating in any multilateral conference meetings with leaders of other countries will not be held there.

The State Minister for Foreign Affairs said bilateral and multilateral communications with various countries will be maintained considering the country’s interest. He also informed that there is opportunity for discussion with representatives of various countries along with participating in various programmes on the sidelines of the United Nations session.