Foreign Secretary Misri arrives in Dhaka amid frosty India-Bangladesh ties

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrived in Dhaka on Monday on a day-long visit to hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart, amid strained bilateral ties following Sheikh Hasina’s ouster.

There have been growing threats to Hindu community in Bangladesh since the interim government led by Mohd Yunus took over.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday had said, “The Foreign Secretary is scheduled to visit Bangladesh. He will meet his counterpart and there will be several other meetings during the visit. Foreign office consultations are structured engagements between India and Bangladesh. We look forward to the meeting.”

India is expected to take up multiple issues like security of minorities, trade and connectivity, sources said. 

The recent tension between the two countries was triggered by the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former spokesperson of ISKCON. Das was detained at the Dhaka airport on sedition charges.

On December 3, Bangladesh had summoned the Indian envoy hours after closing its visa and consular office in Tripura following a security incident.

Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma, after a meeting with Bangladesh’s acting Foreign Secretary Riaz Hamidullah, had reiterated India’s commitment on fostering a stable and constructive partnership with Bangladesh.

“We have a wide-ranging and multi-faceted relationship. You cannot reduce it to one issue,” Verma had said.