Bangladeshi envoy in New Delhi summoned in retaliation Sheikh Hasina's statement was given in person: India

 

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal

The comments being made in the name of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are from her personal position and India has no role in them. Equating her statement with the Indian government's position will not help in adding any positive dimension to bilateral relations. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has said this by summoning the Acting High Commissioner of Bangladesh in New Delhi on Friday.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs summoned Bangladesh's Acting High Commissioner Md. Nurul Islam at 5 pm today. The issues discussed with him have been highlighted on the website of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs had summoned the Indian Acting High Commissioner in Dhaka on Thursday amid the tension created by Sheikh Hasina's virtual speech. Stating that Sheikh Hasina is continuously making false and fabricated comments and statements, the Ministry of External Affairs said that such actions of her (Sheikh Hasina) are considered as a hostile act towards Bangladesh and are not helpful for the efforts to establish a healthy relationship between the two countries.

The Bangladesh Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi was then summoned today. In response to media queries, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal's statement was posted on the country's foreign ministry website.

"The message conveyed to the Acting High Commissioner of Bangladesh is that India wants a positive, constructive and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh, which has been reiterated several times in recent high-level meetings. However, it is unfortunate that the regular statements of the Bangladeshi authorities portray India negatively. They are blaming us for the internal governance issues of Bangladesh. In reality, these statements by Bangladesh are responsible for the prevailing negative situation," Jaiswal said.

Jaiswal further said, "When the Indian government continues to strive for mutually beneficial relations, we expect that Bangladesh will also play a supportive role in the interests of the relationship by making efforts to prevent environmental degradation."