‘Can’t Reduce Ties To One Agenda’: Indian Envoy After Meeting Bangladesh Foreign Secy

Last Updated:December 03, 2024, 21:59 IST

The Bangladeshi external affairs ministry summoned Pranay Kumar Verma, India's high commissioner to Bangladesh, to protest the security breach of Agartala Assistant High Commission.

Pranay Verma, Indian envoy to Bangladesh, speaks to local media outlets following a meeting with foreign ministry officials. (IMAGE: X)

The Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma on Tuesday told reporters that India and Bangladesh relations are multidimensional and that ‘there is no reason for Indo-Bangladesh ties to be stuck on one issue’ during his meeting with Bangladesh’s foreign ministry officials.

Verma was summoned following an incident of security breach during a protest at one of Bangladesh’s missions in Agartala, the capital city of Tripura, a state that shares a long border with Bangladesh.

However, the Indian High Commission (IHC) in Bangladesh termed it as a “regular exchange".

Bangladesh external affairs ministry on Tuesday summoned him over the security breach incident at the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in Agartala.

In Agartala, the capital city of the northeastern state of Tripura in India bordering Bangladesh, thousands of people took out a massive demonstration near Dhaka’s mission on Monday against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das as well as attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh.

The protesters reportedly barged into the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in Kunjaban area and allegedly resorted to vandalism, an incident the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) described as “deeply regrettable."

“We are willing to work with the interim government and maintain friendly relations. India wants to build positive constructive relations with Bangladesh," Varma said.

“There is no reason for Bangladesh-India relations to be stuck on one issue. Our relationship is multi-dimensional," Verma said after a meeting with acting foreign secretary M Riaz Hamidullah.

Three sub-inspectors were suspended on Tuesday in action against the incident of breach of the premises of the Bangladesh consulate in Agartala by a group of people on December 2.

“In the last two months there have been some positive developments for our mutual cooperation. We have many positives. We are working with the interim government. We will work together in various fields, including economy," he further added.

Relations between the two neighbours are going through a rough patch after the regime change, which forced former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India to seek shelter as protesters ousted her over quota reforms.

An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus now runs Bangladesh but reports of attacks by Islamist hardliners on the nation’s Hindu, Christian, tribal and adivasi minorities have kept the country on edge.

There have been protests inside Bangladesh demanding security and safety of minorities and their homes, businesses and places of worship. Protests have been taken out in Indian cities as well demanding attacks on Hindus be halted and action taken against those engaged in such attacks.

The recent arrest of a Hindu monk, Chinmay Krishna Das Prabhu, has put the country and Hindus inside Bangladesh as well as in India on the edge. The monk who is associated with Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been charged with sedition and remains jailed.

His supporters in Bangladesh and India claim he is being targeted because he has been vocal about attacks on minorities in India. Some Islamist hardliners in Bangladesh, some previously associated with attacks and causing harassment to other religious groups like Hefazat-e-Islam, have also called for a ban on ISKCON.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

News world ‘Can’t Reduce Ties To One Agenda’: Indian Envoy After Meeting Bangladesh Foreign Secy