Bangladesh free to take a stand on Beijing's 'One China' policy based on its interests: Jaishankar

"Bangladesh is a sovereign country. They have their interests. They have their outlook. They will do (things) in their interest and according to their judgment. So, what I want to say is that our relations with Bangladesh are very special. They go back to the origin of Bangladesh ... For us Bangladesh is a very very valuable partner and we clearly are very deeply committed to fostering that relationship," he said replying to a related query in interaction with PES University students here on Friday.

Jaishankar said Indio-Bangladesh relations have improved under the Narendra Modi-led government. He pointed out that the bilateral relations between the two countries always faced problems in the past. "For instance, resolving the land boundary issue through an agreement with Bangladesh has brought India enormous benefits in terms of creating connectivity," he said.

"They (Bangladesh) have not always been as good as they are today. There have, in the past, been problems in our relationship with Bangladesh, but if we were to look at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 8 years of governance and if somebody asks me to pick the top five achievements or even top three achievements in foreign policy, I would mention the land boundary agreement that we did with Bangladesh. This has brought us enormous benefits in terms of stabilizing the boundary tensions and creating connectivity," he stated.

Due to Modi's efforts, Jaishankar said the issues of terrorism and law and order in the northeast have ended and a process of transformation of the region has kickstarted.

"With an end to terrorism and improvement in the law and order situation, the north-east is beginning to transform, which is good for India," he said.

(With UNI inputs)