New Delhi:
Days after his meeting with Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain in Muscat, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has warned Bangladesh about its inconsistent stance towards India. He advised Dhaka to stop making some of the “ridiculous” claims against India by leaders of the caretaker government.
Mr. Jaishankar’s warning comes amid Dhaka’s increasingly hostile behavior towards New Delhi. Expressing his concern firmly, the foreign minister urged Bangladesh to “make up their mind” immediately about the direction they want their relationship with India to take.
Pointing out Dhaka’s contradictory stance, Mr. Jaishankar said Bangladesh cannot claim to desire good ties with India while simultaneously blaming New Delhi for all its domestic issues.
“If every day someone from the caretaker government stands up and blames India for everything—some of these claims, if you look at the reports, are absolutely ridiculous… You cannot, on one hand, say that ‘I would now like to have good relations with you,’ but wake up every morning and blame you for everything that goes wrong. It is a decision they must make,” Mr. Jaishankar said at a public event.
“They must decide what kind of relationship they want to have with New Delhi moving forward. We share a long history with Bangladesh—a very special one that dates back to 1971,” he added.
The foreign minister also reiterated India’s concerns about the situation in Bangladesh and how it affects bilateral relations. “There are two aspects to the challenges facing our bilateral ties—the first being communal attacks on minorities. What is deeply troubling for India is the series of attacks on minorities. This obviously impacts our perspective, and it is something we must speak up about, which we have done,” Mr. Jaishankar said.
“The second aspect,” he explained, “is their domestic politics—which you may agree or disagree with, but ultimately, we are their neighbor, and they must decide their outlook towards us.”
The Government of India, he stated, has “sent a clear message to Bangladesh”—that New Delhi wants things to calm down. However, it disapproves of Dhaka’s constant hostile messaging towards India.
During his meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Touhid Hossain last week, Mr. Jaishankar conveyed that Dhaka must not “normalize terrorism.” This warning comes in the context of Pakistan’s growing influence in Bangladesh.
In response to a question about whether the regional grouping SAARC was discussed during Mr. Jaishankar’s meeting with Mr. Hossain, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed
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