Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday said that EAM Jaishankar conveyed to Bangladesh “to not normalise terrorism” when he met the interim government’s Foreign Affairs Advisor in Muscat.
India’s stern message to Bangladesh: In the weekly media presser on Friday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conveyed to Bangladesh that Dhaka “should not normalise terrorism” when he met interim government’s Foreign Affairs Advisor, Touhid Hossain, at the sidelines of a multilateral conference in Muscat. Jaiswal also confirmed that India and Bangladesh discussed SAARC when EAM Jaishankar met Touhid Hossain.
The MEA spokesperson added that SAARC was brought up by the Bangladesh side as he took a veiled attack on Pakistan, underscoring, “Everyone in South Asia is aware of which country and what activities are responsible for stymying SAARC.”
Notably, Bangladesh’s new interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has been insisting on the revival of SAARC, which was suspended in the wake of the India-Pakistan conflict.
However, with India adopting a strict stance against Pakistan and expecting Pakistan to stop harbouring terrorists for anti-India activities, New Delhi is less likely to give heed to the request of reviving SAARC, which gives Pakistan a diplomatic platform.
After former PM Sheikh Hasina was ousted from Bangladesh last year, the ties between India and Bangladesh came under severe strain over attacks on minority Hindus. There had been a spate of incidents of violence against Hindus and other minorities, as well as attacks on temples in Bangladesh that triggered strong concerns in New Delhi.
Bangladesh and India share an over 4,000-kilometre border, which also saw sporadic unrest. Chiefs of two border forces are set to meet in New Delhi this week in their annual conference.