New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Bangladesh's perceived growing proximity with Pakistan and China, and implications of India's strained ties with its eastern neighbour were discussed at a parliamentary committee meeting on Friday amid suggestions by some experts on engagement with the country, sources said.
Former foreign secretary and former national security advisor Shivshankar Menon, Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain, former high commissioner of India to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das and well-known academician Amitabh Mattoo appeared as experts and "gave us very good insights and excellent ideas", Standing Committee on External Affairs Chairman Shashi Tharoor said.
Replying to a question about infiltration from Bangladesh, he said a figure that has come up before the committee suggests that its number has gone down.
An MP said some members flagged concerns about the strain in ties with Bangladesh under the interim government of Muhammad Yunus after Sheikh Hasina was deposed last year.
The sources said there was a view from some experts that India needs to engage with Bangladesh at various levels, including people-to-people ties, under the new regime. A friendly India is very much in the interest of Bangladesh as well, they added.
An expert said despite concerns about radicalisation of youngsters in the country, its army is not extremist like Pakistan's.
That China is getting a foothold in the country, which is strategically important for India, was another issue for some MPs of the panel, the sources said, noting that Pakistan is also trying to strengthen its ties with Bangladesh.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kiran Choudhry, the sources said, recalled India's role in liberating Bangladesh, noting that her father, Brigadier Atma Singh of the 17 Kumaon Regiment, played a heroic role in the 1971 war and suffered bullet injuries. Singh was called the "founding father" of the regiment and his unit received battle honours.
An MP asked if the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) can be revived to counter the Chinese bid to grow its influence in the region and also floated the idea of exchange of journalists to boost people-to-people engagement with Bangladesh.
The lawmaker flagged the implications of India-Bangladesh ties on West Bengal, which shares a long border with the country and has been at the receiving end of suspected large-scale infiltration.