India’s Acting High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Pawan Badhe, was summoned by Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday night in Dhaka. This action was a response by the Bangladeshi government to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma’s comment regarding New Delhi-Dhaka ties.
The Dhaka Tribune, a leading daily newspaper in Bangladesh, reported the foreign ministry stating that making public statements without evidence on such sensitive bilateral issues is not helpful for relations between the two neighbouring countries. It added, “Any unresolved issues should be addressed through international norms and existing bilateral mechanisms.”
The foreign ministry also urged Indian politicians to refrain from making comments in the future that could affect India-Bangladesh ties, which have already suffered a major blow since former PM Sheikh Hasina fled from Dhaka.
Sarma, in an interview with ABP Live, said on April 15 that the people of Assam prefer a hostile relationship between India and Bangladesh. He was quoted as saying, “I always pray to God in the morning that the situation that existed during Yunus’s time should remain the same, and that relations should not improve.”
He further stated, “We like it when India-Bangladesh relations are not good. Because when relations improve, the Indian government also does not want to push back illegal migrants. When India and Bangladesh become friendly and when the BSF and BGB start shaking hands, it becomes dangerous for Assam.”
On April 25, he also put a post on social media that stated, “Rude people don’t understand soft language. We continuously remind ourselves of this prophetic line when we expel infiltrators from Assam who don’t leave themselves.” He claimed that 20 undocumented migrants from Bangladesh had been apprehended and sent back.
Bangladesh has strongly condemned such remarks by the CM, describing them as inappropriate, disparaging and detrimental to bilateral relations. While there has been a thaw in the bilateral relationship after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party came to power, resetting ties between the two nations has a long way to go.
