Observing that Indo-Bangla relations remained imbalanced, Bangladesh's caretaker government said it is according priority for developing ties with India and wanted New Delhi to take equal responsibility and also make Dhaka feel secured.
"India is a priority in Bangladesh foreign policy and vice versa because of the dictates of geography, history, culture, interest etc...We are pleased to note India has accepted a symmetry responsibility being a large neighbour endowed with more resources," Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said in an exclusive interview to PTI.
Asked if the past six months after the installation of the current interim government saw any major shift in bilateral ties, Chowdhury said there was an 'imbalance' in the relationship with India and that is why Dhaka expected New Delhi to play a symmetry role.
"We see every sign that it is happening," he said about India's symmetry role, adding that Bangladesh was evolving a standing foreign policy to develop ties with other South Asian countries.
"Most certainly there is an improvement as (Indian External Affiars Minister) Pranab Mukherjee and I have both agreed that it is our desire to take our relationship to an irreversible trajectory," Chowdhury said.
He said the two countries agreed to create appropriate parameters of relationship 'within which details will be worked out by the designated mechanism.'
Appreciating India's gesture to ease market access of Bangladeshi products, Chowdhury said, "They are talking about a duty free, quota free entry of all Bangladeshi products, lifting of non-tariff barriers and expanding trade in a way that the imbalance is countered and corrected and also to give us a sense of security.'
"We must feel secured in the relationship with our large neighbour. These are not easy to do but both our foreign official machinery posses that kind of sophistication that is necessary to evolve a relationship of that kind," the adviser said.
Chowdhury, however, said under a revised "standing foreign policy" the interim government also sought to develop similar ties with other neighbours, including Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan while Dhaka was set to hold foreign office consultation with Islamabad at the end of August.
"We are doing it with Sri Lanka and Myanmar as well as you will notice," he said,
"In this caretaker government, we are trying to evolve a consensual foreign policy, a foreign policy through consensus something that is the result of general will," he said.
The adviser said it mattered little what political party anyone belonged to if the interest of Bangladesh remains constant.
"It will remain the same irrespective of the party you belong to."
Analysts said the Dhaka-New Delhi ties in the past few years was dogged by issues like border management and terrorist infiltration, water sharing and trade imbalance as the two close neighbours have a more than 4,000 km porous border and 230 common rivers mostly originating from India.