Dhaka seeks Delhi support on Rohingya crisis, again

Bangladesh has yet again sought Indian support in solving the protracted Rohingya crisis in a sustainable manner.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam made the call at a webiner titled "Bangladeh-India Relations: New Dimensions and Opportunities" organized by Asian Confluence on Tuesday.

"In 2017, the world witnessed one of the fastest growing human movements of the history as Myanmar orchestrated an unprecedented exodus of Rohingyas from its Rakhine State. As a result, desperate Rohingyas entered Bangladesh since August 25, 2017," he said.

"The helpless Rohingyas faced worst forms of human rights violations owing to their religion and race which was mentioned by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’. Bangladesh, as immediate neighbour, had to bear the burden of hosting altogether 1.1 million forcibly displaced population in its territory," he added.

The state minister said: "It is in this backdrop that we invoke regional cooperation and seek support from the Government of India in resolving the issue in a sustainable manner."

"We want voluntary and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya people to their country of origin immediately. We believe, as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, India can play a meaningful role in this regard for establishing stability in this region," he said.

It is worth noting that such calls have been made earlier, but the Indian government's cooperation to help solve the crisis was not visible to a mention-worthy extent.

Referring to the upcoming virtual talk between Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi, Shahriar said: "Our partnership is multifaceted. In the past few years, since Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assumed office, we have attained some tangible goals in many areas, such as, land boundary and maritime boundary demarcation, security, connectivity, development cooperation, cultural exchange, power and energy, trade and commerce, defence exchange and so on."

"The security cooperation together with our collective fight against terrorism and violent extremism continue to play an important role in achieving peace and stability in the region. We are confident that the trajectory of our bilateral relations would guide the two countries to identify further areas of cooperation and make joint progress in these sectors," he said.

There is always the scope to broaden partnership between the two countries, said the state minister.

"What is needed is the positive mindset of our peoples towards relations. Equally, we need to understand each other’s concerns, risks and vulnerabilities as well as opportunities," he said.