"The India-Bangladesh relation is at its best now as in 1971. We have cooperation in almost all areas," Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told reporters here on Sunday evening.
Asked about Theesta water dispute between Bangladesh and India, Moni said: "water is a major issue and rightly so. We just hope that it will be resolved very very soon."
Recalling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s remark, she said: "it is not only our past that is similar, our destinies are also intertwined."
"Cost of non-cooperation is too high. We can not afford that. Neither India nor Bangladesh can afford it. Water is a major issue and for Bangladesh is taking all steps for the fullest cooperation with India," she told members of the Indian Journalists Association, UK and Europe, here.
"We also have our internal constituencies where water becomes a major issue and very rightly so. We just hope that will be resolved very very soon." Answering a question on terrorist activities on the Bangladesh-India border, she said: "terrorism and extremism must not have any space in Bangladesh society. Now it has been controlled. We are looking at causes of radicalisation and modernisation of madrasaas."
Asked about the controversial Bangladesh writer Tasleema Nasreen, Moni said: "personally I liked some of her poems. I don`t think her as a major writer in Bangla to demand so much attention. It is a very personal opinion." On recent reports of attempted coups in Bangladesh, she said: "there were as many as 19 by some of the middle level officers."