Syed Naved
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2011
- Messages
- 470
- Reaction score
- 0
Toufique Imrose Khalidi: As the grid connectivity finally gets going, Bangladesh is about to get 500 MW power by November 250 MW from Indian government companies and 250 MW from private companies. Can we expect more in the near future?
Farooq Abdullah: One good thing is that these transmission lines can take more power. Therefore, we hope that another 500 MW will be also coming to Bangladesh in the near future.
Khalidi: How soon?
Abdullah: In the coming year by November you should have this 500 MW. Then we hope, in further discussions that were going to have with them, by next year you will have another 500 MW.
Khalidi: By 2014 (by next year)?
Abdullah: Yes, because your lines can carry it. And that is a good thing because we feel that power is essential.
Khalidi: What is the capacity like? Can it carry more than thousand MW?
Abdullah: This line of yours, it can carry a thousand megawatts very easily. And I think that is a very good thing. And if further talks between India, Bhutan and Nepal mature, then youll get much more for the future. A lot of projects are coming up in these states.
Khalidi: So are you talking about the possibility of an early implementation of, what we call is, the South Asian Power Grid.
Abdullah: I dont know how soon that will emerge, but we also hope that it will emerge as rapidly as possible. We think it is very important. Energy is essential for your country, as it is essential for us. Because that is how it works. There will be more factories, there will be more people at work, and the country will prosper.
Khalidi: Do you think this grid connects producers like Bhutan, and users like Bangladesh and India?
Abdullah: Yes, it will work. Im quite confident that negotiations will start very soon, and I think something will come out of this which will be positive for your country also.
Khalidi: This is not going to be just another political rhetoric by the politicians?
Abdullah: No, No, No. India doesnt believe in doing that. I think India means what it says. It is important that we want to be friends. We have to deliver, that is important.
Khalidi: Indias commitment is crucial to it, because countries in SAARC border India, but not each other. Do you recognise that India has to do more than others?
Abdullah: Yes. India realises. India assures to be like a big brother. It should work, and India is determined to see that the SAARC countries come closer, and the co-operation is far greater in these countries, so that we emerge from darkness to light.
Khalidi: As India's power minister you would surely be keen to augment India's power capacity as it is an energy hungry economy. Is India trying to revive its proposal for a gas pipeline through Bangladesh from Myanmar now that as your PM says you have a friendly government in Dhaka?
Abdullah: India wants to do that. India wants to have that Myanmar gas pipeline. And India is very much keen on it, and I hope it gets through rapidly. Because itll not only benefit India, itll benefit you too, itll come through.
Khalidi: Have you started or reopened negotiations with Myanmar?
Abdullah: I dont know since I am not in the ministry of gas and things, but I can find out. I can have the ambassador of my High Commission let you know. That is what the position is today.
Khalidi: So it has to be a tripartite negotiation involving ?
Abdullah: Yes. Obviously you are also there, and Myanmar is very next to you. So we feel that whatever we do, well also have to have you on board to be able to rapidly get on with it.
Khalidi: What were the vibes like when you met the Prime Minister here?
Abdullah: I think there was a very good vibe. I think Myanmar is also now very closely working.
Khalidi: Have you met anyone from Myanmar?
Abdullah: I have recently told your adviser to the Prime Minister that we should work for bringing Myanmar into SAARC also, like Afghanistan came into SAARC. And China is also one of the partners in the SAARC. I think its a very good idea if we bring Myanmar also, and that this whole region benefit from each other.
Khalidi: Tripura's chief minister Manik Sarkar said, during our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit about two years ago to Agartala, that his government was willing to give away 100MW of its share of power from the 726-MW Palatana gas-fired plant, because Bangladesh gave transit corridor for transportation of crucial equipments from one Indian state to another. But he has said recently this has not been possible because Delhi has not moved on it? Why is that the case?
Abdullah: I have no Idea, but I will look into it as soon as I get back. Ill talk to my power minister and the Prime Minister as well, that when this was agreed on, we should have moved on it. I dont think we should have any difficulties in giving you 100 megawatt. We are giving you so much from here, why not 100 megawatts more (be given) from here?
Khalidi: Probably there is no formal agreement, but the Tripura Chief Minister promised that he would
Abdullah: I think the agreement is in the paper. That can be easily done if the Chief Minister says he has the power which he can give. I think we should have no difficulty in that. I will look into it immediately as I get there, and convey it to your government also, that we should have no difficulties to give you this power from that side.
Khalidi: Turning to Rampal Rampal has been causing some clamour in Bangladesh for quite some time now. Several major political parties, including main opposition BNP , former president Ershad and rights groups, of course, have been campaigning against it. One of their concerns is the plant will be just 14 km off the Sundarbans.
Abdullah: I think I can assure your all opposition parties, that as far as any project that India is going to make, no project India will take that will be detrimental to the environment, because the Sundarbans are also very close to us. We share Sundarbans, both the countries. And nothing will be done these are the tragedies with us. Sometimes these things are taken to such a level to create a hype, that people start, you know, doubting each other. That is why I want to clear one thing, nothing will be done, India will not do anything which will anyway be detrimental to the environment of Bangladesh or its own nation. We are also building huge modern coal-plants-clean coal plants. If they were going to be detrimental, we would not have built them.
Khalidi: 60 percent of Indian power come from coal?
Abdullah: Yes. We would not have built them. And nowadays, our maximum import is coal.
Khalidi: Perhaps, one reason that coal power is being scaled down in developed countries is that they have proved to be dangerous, despite detailed impact studies, due diligence and contingency plans. Yet you are confident enough to endorse Rampal, why?
Abdullah: I am quite confident that India will not do anything that will harm your environment, or Sundarbans.
Khalidi: But anti-Rampal campaigners say, even in India, there are guidelines set by the environmental department
Abdullah: We have environmental minister, Jayanthi Natarajan
Khalidi: As well as a directive from the high court, thats what they are saying in Bangladesh that there cannot be any coal-fired plant set up within a certain area of any forest. They say the Indian limit is 20 km. Is that true?
Abdullah: No, I dont think so.
Khalidi: What is the situation?
Abdullah: Let me be very clear about it. Earlier technologies that were there are different to one which is now coming to it. The new technology is far cleaner and far more efficient than the ones we had earlier. That is why the people are misunderstanding is from the earlier coal plants that had so much of pollution around that they were scared about it. Things have changed. I would like to suggest that those who are complaining so much, I would ask them, please, go to Rome, which is so populated, and they have a clean coal plant going there, which they should see. And they will realize, if Rome can do this, why not us.
Khalidi: The Bangladesh government says the low-sulfur coal to be used for the Rampal plant will be imported from Australia, South Africa or Indonesia.
Abdullah: Like we do. We are doing the same thing, No difference. Now we are also importing from Australia, Indonesia and South Africa.
Khalidi: Thats quite expensive but opponents say eventually low-quality Indian coal will make its way to the plant.
Abdullah: Not at all, not at all.
Khalidi: Do you guarantee? Can you assure these protesters?
Abdullah: You see the tragedy is that some political parties live on creating misunderstandings, and creating divisions. To them, I would say as an Indian that please build bridges rather than destroying. Time has come we must trust each other. Otherwise there is no hope in hell. We cannot go anywhere else. The question is- we can change friends, we cannot change neighbours. Therefore, either we live in understanding each other, helping each other, or we live in animosity, see that our people suffer. Our aim is that we want to live in friendship. And not for the short time friendship, but an eternal friendship, so that we can develop to an extent where there will be boundaries; youll be Bangladeshis, and well be Indians; but unity will be such that nobody will regard one as an enemy, and the other one as a friend.
Khalidi: The Sundarbans is not just a delicate ecosystem, but a source of livelihood for millions -timber, honey, shrimp, fish, bamboo, etc
Abdullah: Ive been to Sundarbans. Ive been to cyclone areas of Sundarbans, and we gave them solar lighting because there was no lighting, everything has gone off. So we are ourselves concerned that ecosystem has to be maintained.
Khalidi: And there is astronomical potential for ecotourism ... not very unlike the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Some people ask, why would you endorse such a project on its banks? Would it be a fitting legacy for the son of the Sher-e-Kashmir?
Abdullah: India would not do something that would not benefit you, but would hurt this, the environment of the nation. Not at all. If India felt that this was going to be detrimental, India would step back immediately. Immediately (repeats, to stress).
Khalidi: One last question, that is about politics. Is India committed to promoting sustainable secular democracy in its neighborhood, especially in Bangladesh? And do you see a threat to India's secular democracy posed by BJP's comeback bid with Narendra Modi leading the charge?
Abdullah: First of all let me tell you that both of our nations have population which is of different religions. In your country, you speak the same language. In India, we speak multiple languages. We have multiple religions, we have multiple cuisines. We have everything different. North is different to the South, East is different to the West. But only one thing joins us, that is a hope that we can live together. That we can progress together, that our religions will grow together. I dont see difference in Gods. My Allah, we say is Rabbul Alamin. He is the God of all the universe, of everything, whether you accept it or not. Hindus call Ram. They say Vishwakarma. This world is Ram. So I dont see any difference. We pray towards Makkah, they go to the temple. The God is the same. They see him in different shapes, they see him in different colours. And to protect this, what God has given us we need to be secular. We need to grow in that spirit, that God created all of us. And it is our job to see that all survive in all benefits. And that is what Bangladesh has to do, and that is what India has to do. We are afraid, let me be very frank, we are afraid at times, when there are parties that go on to religious segments. Yes, we are afraid. And if something like that emerges here in Bangladesh, it will be dangerous for you. And your danger will be our danger. And if we have something like that, it will be your danger too. Therefore, we, both nations, have to work and see that secular parties grow. And that they continue to hold to this fabric so strongly together that none of the storms, that may come, can in any way damage it.
Khalidi: Do you follow developments in Bangladesh?
Abdullah: Yes, I do.
Khalidi: Then how do you respond to the rise of Hifazat in Bangladesh?
Abdullah: I think they rise because of expectations of the people are much greater than one can do. And therefore, when one is not able to fully do at the speed that the people want, tendencies start emerging, and they use religious slogans, and then subtly the whole connotation changes. And they are trying to convert him - this innocent man who is a voter to the wrong direction.
Khalidi: So what will be your advice to secular forces in Bangladesh to fight these people?
Abdullah: I would beg them from the bottom of my heart that we may not have achieved everything, but let us not forget, from where we were in 1971 to where we are today, there is a tremendous difference. And this happened because we worked hard. And we keep working hard and we keep secular traditions going, there is no doubt in my mind that whatever distance is left now that will also be filled quickly, and you will find the nation growing at much faster speed. Then having tendencies whereby were going to hit each other, whereby were going to create differences, and have street fights, have work suffer, that would be detrimental to the future of your nation, as much detrimental to the future of my nation.
Khalidi: Dr. Farooq Abdullah thank you so much for your time
Abdullah: Thank you. God bless you and I hope to see you succeed in your endeavour to bring nations closer.
Khalidi: Thank you so much.
Farooq Abdullah: One good thing is that these transmission lines can take more power. Therefore, we hope that another 500 MW will be also coming to Bangladesh in the near future.
Khalidi: How soon?
Abdullah: In the coming year by November you should have this 500 MW. Then we hope, in further discussions that were going to have with them, by next year you will have another 500 MW.
Khalidi: By 2014 (by next year)?
Abdullah: Yes, because your lines can carry it. And that is a good thing because we feel that power is essential.
Khalidi: What is the capacity like? Can it carry more than thousand MW?
Abdullah: This line of yours, it can carry a thousand megawatts very easily. And I think that is a very good thing. And if further talks between India, Bhutan and Nepal mature, then youll get much more for the future. A lot of projects are coming up in these states.
Khalidi: So are you talking about the possibility of an early implementation of, what we call is, the South Asian Power Grid.
Abdullah: I dont know how soon that will emerge, but we also hope that it will emerge as rapidly as possible. We think it is very important. Energy is essential for your country, as it is essential for us. Because that is how it works. There will be more factories, there will be more people at work, and the country will prosper.
Khalidi: Do you think this grid connects producers like Bhutan, and users like Bangladesh and India?
Abdullah: Yes, it will work. Im quite confident that negotiations will start very soon, and I think something will come out of this which will be positive for your country also.
Khalidi: This is not going to be just another political rhetoric by the politicians?
Abdullah: No, No, No. India doesnt believe in doing that. I think India means what it says. It is important that we want to be friends. We have to deliver, that is important.
Khalidi: Indias commitment is crucial to it, because countries in SAARC border India, but not each other. Do you recognise that India has to do more than others?
Abdullah: Yes. India realises. India assures to be like a big brother. It should work, and India is determined to see that the SAARC countries come closer, and the co-operation is far greater in these countries, so that we emerge from darkness to light.
Khalidi: As India's power minister you would surely be keen to augment India's power capacity as it is an energy hungry economy. Is India trying to revive its proposal for a gas pipeline through Bangladesh from Myanmar now that as your PM says you have a friendly government in Dhaka?
Abdullah: India wants to do that. India wants to have that Myanmar gas pipeline. And India is very much keen on it, and I hope it gets through rapidly. Because itll not only benefit India, itll benefit you too, itll come through.
Khalidi: Have you started or reopened negotiations with Myanmar?
Abdullah: I dont know since I am not in the ministry of gas and things, but I can find out. I can have the ambassador of my High Commission let you know. That is what the position is today.
Khalidi: So it has to be a tripartite negotiation involving ?
Abdullah: Yes. Obviously you are also there, and Myanmar is very next to you. So we feel that whatever we do, well also have to have you on board to be able to rapidly get on with it.
Khalidi: What were the vibes like when you met the Prime Minister here?
Abdullah: I think there was a very good vibe. I think Myanmar is also now very closely working.
Khalidi: Have you met anyone from Myanmar?
Abdullah: I have recently told your adviser to the Prime Minister that we should work for bringing Myanmar into SAARC also, like Afghanistan came into SAARC. And China is also one of the partners in the SAARC. I think its a very good idea if we bring Myanmar also, and that this whole region benefit from each other.
Khalidi: Tripura's chief minister Manik Sarkar said, during our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit about two years ago to Agartala, that his government was willing to give away 100MW of its share of power from the 726-MW Palatana gas-fired plant, because Bangladesh gave transit corridor for transportation of crucial equipments from one Indian state to another. But he has said recently this has not been possible because Delhi has not moved on it? Why is that the case?
Abdullah: I have no Idea, but I will look into it as soon as I get back. Ill talk to my power minister and the Prime Minister as well, that when this was agreed on, we should have moved on it. I dont think we should have any difficulties in giving you 100 megawatt. We are giving you so much from here, why not 100 megawatts more (be given) from here?
Khalidi: Probably there is no formal agreement, but the Tripura Chief Minister promised that he would
Abdullah: I think the agreement is in the paper. That can be easily done if the Chief Minister says he has the power which he can give. I think we should have no difficulty in that. I will look into it immediately as I get there, and convey it to your government also, that we should have no difficulties to give you this power from that side.
Khalidi: Turning to Rampal Rampal has been causing some clamour in Bangladesh for quite some time now. Several major political parties, including main opposition BNP , former president Ershad and rights groups, of course, have been campaigning against it. One of their concerns is the plant will be just 14 km off the Sundarbans.
Abdullah: I think I can assure your all opposition parties, that as far as any project that India is going to make, no project India will take that will be detrimental to the environment, because the Sundarbans are also very close to us. We share Sundarbans, both the countries. And nothing will be done these are the tragedies with us. Sometimes these things are taken to such a level to create a hype, that people start, you know, doubting each other. That is why I want to clear one thing, nothing will be done, India will not do anything which will anyway be detrimental to the environment of Bangladesh or its own nation. We are also building huge modern coal-plants-clean coal plants. If they were going to be detrimental, we would not have built them.
Khalidi: 60 percent of Indian power come from coal?
Abdullah: Yes. We would not have built them. And nowadays, our maximum import is coal.
Khalidi: Perhaps, one reason that coal power is being scaled down in developed countries is that they have proved to be dangerous, despite detailed impact studies, due diligence and contingency plans. Yet you are confident enough to endorse Rampal, why?
Abdullah: I am quite confident that India will not do anything that will harm your environment, or Sundarbans.
Khalidi: But anti-Rampal campaigners say, even in India, there are guidelines set by the environmental department
Abdullah: We have environmental minister, Jayanthi Natarajan
Khalidi: As well as a directive from the high court, thats what they are saying in Bangladesh that there cannot be any coal-fired plant set up within a certain area of any forest. They say the Indian limit is 20 km. Is that true?
Abdullah: No, I dont think so.
Khalidi: What is the situation?
Abdullah: Let me be very clear about it. Earlier technologies that were there are different to one which is now coming to it. The new technology is far cleaner and far more efficient than the ones we had earlier. That is why the people are misunderstanding is from the earlier coal plants that had so much of pollution around that they were scared about it. Things have changed. I would like to suggest that those who are complaining so much, I would ask them, please, go to Rome, which is so populated, and they have a clean coal plant going there, which they should see. And they will realize, if Rome can do this, why not us.
Khalidi: The Bangladesh government says the low-sulfur coal to be used for the Rampal plant will be imported from Australia, South Africa or Indonesia.
Abdullah: Like we do. We are doing the same thing, No difference. Now we are also importing from Australia, Indonesia and South Africa.
Khalidi: Thats quite expensive but opponents say eventually low-quality Indian coal will make its way to the plant.
Abdullah: Not at all, not at all.
Khalidi: Do you guarantee? Can you assure these protesters?
Abdullah: You see the tragedy is that some political parties live on creating misunderstandings, and creating divisions. To them, I would say as an Indian that please build bridges rather than destroying. Time has come we must trust each other. Otherwise there is no hope in hell. We cannot go anywhere else. The question is- we can change friends, we cannot change neighbours. Therefore, either we live in understanding each other, helping each other, or we live in animosity, see that our people suffer. Our aim is that we want to live in friendship. And not for the short time friendship, but an eternal friendship, so that we can develop to an extent where there will be boundaries; youll be Bangladeshis, and well be Indians; but unity will be such that nobody will regard one as an enemy, and the other one as a friend.
Khalidi: The Sundarbans is not just a delicate ecosystem, but a source of livelihood for millions -timber, honey, shrimp, fish, bamboo, etc
Abdullah: Ive been to Sundarbans. Ive been to cyclone areas of Sundarbans, and we gave them solar lighting because there was no lighting, everything has gone off. So we are ourselves concerned that ecosystem has to be maintained.
Khalidi: And there is astronomical potential for ecotourism ... not very unlike the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Some people ask, why would you endorse such a project on its banks? Would it be a fitting legacy for the son of the Sher-e-Kashmir?
Abdullah: India would not do something that would not benefit you, but would hurt this, the environment of the nation. Not at all. If India felt that this was going to be detrimental, India would step back immediately. Immediately (repeats, to stress).
Khalidi: One last question, that is about politics. Is India committed to promoting sustainable secular democracy in its neighborhood, especially in Bangladesh? And do you see a threat to India's secular democracy posed by BJP's comeback bid with Narendra Modi leading the charge?
Abdullah: First of all let me tell you that both of our nations have population which is of different religions. In your country, you speak the same language. In India, we speak multiple languages. We have multiple religions, we have multiple cuisines. We have everything different. North is different to the South, East is different to the West. But only one thing joins us, that is a hope that we can live together. That we can progress together, that our religions will grow together. I dont see difference in Gods. My Allah, we say is Rabbul Alamin. He is the God of all the universe, of everything, whether you accept it or not. Hindus call Ram. They say Vishwakarma. This world is Ram. So I dont see any difference. We pray towards Makkah, they go to the temple. The God is the same. They see him in different shapes, they see him in different colours. And to protect this, what God has given us we need to be secular. We need to grow in that spirit, that God created all of us. And it is our job to see that all survive in all benefits. And that is what Bangladesh has to do, and that is what India has to do. We are afraid, let me be very frank, we are afraid at times, when there are parties that go on to religious segments. Yes, we are afraid. And if something like that emerges here in Bangladesh, it will be dangerous for you. And your danger will be our danger. And if we have something like that, it will be your danger too. Therefore, we, both nations, have to work and see that secular parties grow. And that they continue to hold to this fabric so strongly together that none of the storms, that may come, can in any way damage it.
Khalidi: Do you follow developments in Bangladesh?
Abdullah: Yes, I do.
Khalidi: Then how do you respond to the rise of Hifazat in Bangladesh?
Abdullah: I think they rise because of expectations of the people are much greater than one can do. And therefore, when one is not able to fully do at the speed that the people want, tendencies start emerging, and they use religious slogans, and then subtly the whole connotation changes. And they are trying to convert him - this innocent man who is a voter to the wrong direction.
Khalidi: So what will be your advice to secular forces in Bangladesh to fight these people?
Abdullah: I would beg them from the bottom of my heart that we may not have achieved everything, but let us not forget, from where we were in 1971 to where we are today, there is a tremendous difference. And this happened because we worked hard. And we keep working hard and we keep secular traditions going, there is no doubt in my mind that whatever distance is left now that will also be filled quickly, and you will find the nation growing at much faster speed. Then having tendencies whereby were going to hit each other, whereby were going to create differences, and have street fights, have work suffer, that would be detrimental to the future of your nation, as much detrimental to the future of my nation.
Khalidi: Dr. Farooq Abdullah thank you so much for your time
Abdullah: Thank you. God bless you and I hope to see you succeed in your endeavour to bring nations closer.
Khalidi: Thank you so much.
