BEI 
BEI President M Humayun Kabir, also a former ambassador and secretary for the Bangladesh government joined at a round roundtable discussion on Bangladesh-India relations jointly organized by leading English daily Dhaka Tribune and the Central Foundation for International and Strategic Studies (CFISS) at Westin Hotel, Dhaka on 21 June 2022. High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami joined the discussion and made some remarks. Mr. Faiz Sobhan, Senior Research Director of BEI also joined this roundtable discussion.
The roundtable is part of a series of discussions on important national and international issues. CFISS’s Chairman and founder Commodore Mohammed Nurul Absar and Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan moderated the roundtable that was attended by academia, local and foreign diplomats, former and serving government officials, and journalists. Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) President M Humayun Kabir, and Prothom Alo Head of English Web Ayesha Kabir addressed the roundtable as panellists.
Panelist BEI President M Humayun Kabir stressed the need for more regional cooperation, especially within Saarc. “We are not seeing as many examples of regional cooperation as we used to. We have to think about the region as well,” he said.
High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami has reassured that India continues to prioritize the friendship with Bangladesh in different aspects, and Bangladesh comes first when it comes to the country’s neighborhood first policy. Both countries are in a position today that is unique, and the relationship is better than it has ever been, he said adding that: “And I think leadership on both sides have sort of publicly acknowledged the importance of doing more, and we are committed to doing.”
Highlighting a few commitments that came into reality between two countries, including enclave exchange, cross-border communication connectivity, and opening of more border points for trade, he said the relationships between India and Bangladesh have improved significantly over the time, but actual fulfilment of opportunity is not happening and it is not just for the government to do this.