Dhaka did not lodge any complaint with New Delhi authorities about the alleged security breach during President Abdul Hamid’s visit to India last December as was reported by several Indian and Bangladeshi newspapers.
“This is completely a false report,” State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The state minister, who was a member of the president’s entourage, said Bangladesh thanked and expressed its satisfaction to the Indian government over the security arrangement.
Recently several Bangladeshi and Indian newspapers reported that Bangladesh had lodged a complaint with the Indian authorities about a string of security lapses during Hamid’s India visit.
“It should be investigated why such reports were published. But we are not confused or agitated,” the state minister said.
The respect and protocol the Indian government provided to the president was quite satisfactory, he added.
President Abdul Hamid visited Delhi, Jaipur, Ajmer, Kolkata and Santi Niketan during the December 18-23 visit.
It was reported in various media that some security lapses occurred during the visit.
On one such occasion, it was reported, the president was taken to the Taj Mahal by a regular battery-operated public vehicle – not by a private one usually used for VIPs and VVIPs.
According to another allegation, the hotel the president stayed in in Agra had a faulty lift.
Moreover, when he visited Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan, no appropriate arrangements were made to control the crowd, the reports said.
Meanwhile, when a report was published in Bangla Tribune over the issue, Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi contacted with it on Friday night and confirmed that Dhaka did not lodge any complaint.
But, the Bangla Tribune Delhi correspondent in response said he obtained a letter written by the Indian central government, seeking explanation from Uttar Pradesh and Rajstan state governments about the security lapses.
It is a practice to conduct a review after any high profile trip like the visit of the Bangladesh president and it is more likely that the Indian government had taken the suo moto measures to understand if there is any security breach, the Bangla Tribune correspondent concluded.