Delhi needs to address Dhaka’s concerns: Foreign Affairs Adviser

Amid an ongoing diplomatic row over the arrest of a Hindu priest, Bangladesh on Saturday said India needs to address Dhaka’s longstanding concerns to improve bilateral ties but remained optimistic about good relations with bilateral interests protected.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain also acknowledged that there is a “change in the relations” between the two neighbours after August 5 and said it is a “reality.” India needs to address Bangladesh’s longstanding concerns to improve bilateral ties between Dhaka and New Delhi, Hossain

said adding: “Bangladesh’s previous (ousted) government addressed the concerns of India, but India did not address Bangladesh’s concerns.”

Deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5 following widespread protests against her Awami League-led government over a controversial job quota system. Three days later, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate, took over as the Chief Adviser of the interim government.

The diplomatic row erupted between India and Bangladesh after Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former member of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was arrested from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday.

Das, the spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was denied bail and sent to jail by the Chattogram’s Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate court in a sedition case on Tuesday. It triggered clashes between his supporters and the security personnel that led to the killing of a lawyer.

The Foreign Affairs Adviser acknowledged that “there is a change in the relations after August 5.” and said, “This is reality” but remained optimistic about bilateral relationship despite current diplomatic challenges. “Dhaka wants to remain optimistic that we would be able to establish a good relation with India making sure that bilateral interests are protected,” BSS said quoting Hossain.