Interim government National Security Adviser Dr Khalilur Rahman and Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Tuesday held a meeting with Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Riaz Hamidullah, who was recently summoned from New Delhi.
The meeting took place at the foreign affairs adviser’s office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the afternoon.
Earlier in the day, following a special meeting of the Advisory Council, the national security and foreign affairs advisers arrived at the ministry together shortly before noon. High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah reached the ministry ahead of the advisers. The meeting with the high commissioner lasted for around half an hour.
When approached by journalists after the meeting, National Security Adviser Dr Khalilur Rahman said: “We call the high commissioner from time to time. We discussed various issues.”
The foreign affairs adviser declined to comment when asked about the meeting as he left the ministry.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had summoned Bangladesh’s high commissioner to India to Dhaka on an emergency basis. He arrived in the capital on Monday night, according to the ministry.
Diplomatic sources said the high commissioner was called back to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current situation in India and to discuss recent developments in bilateral relations. The national security and foreign affairs advisers also held discussions on India-related issues on Monday, the sources added.
Bangladesh’s relations with India have remained tense in recent weeks. The foreign affairs adviser has acknowledged on several occasions that strains exist in bilateral ties. The situation has been further complicated by the killing of Inquilab Manch leader Sharif Osman Hadi and the brutal murder of garment worker Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh, followed by the spread of inflammatory rumours from various quarters.
Meanwhile, visa and consular services at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and two assistant missions have been suspended due to protests in the Indian capital and threats to the high commissioner.
Dhaka has also rejected India’s comments regarding the alleged persecution of minorities in Bangladesh and, in turn, expressed concern over incidents involving minorities in India.
The reciprocal summoning of envoys by Dhaka and New Delhi over these issues has added to tensions between the two neighbours. Within a span of two weeks, the two countries summoned each other’s diplomats twice to convey protests and concerns.
Most recently, on December 23, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka. Later the same day, India’s Ministry of External Affairs summoned Bangladesh High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah in New Delhi.
Diplomatic sources said this marked the first instance in the history of bilateral relations that the two countries summoned each other’s envoys on the same day.
