bangladesh-asks-india-to-stop-bengal-politicians-comments

Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has asked the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka to urge West Bengal politicians to refrain from making statements on the neighbouring country’s “internal issues,” sources in India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed.

 

Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma was summoned by the MoFA in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon following a security breach at the Agartala office of the Assistant High Commissioner. 

 

Verma met with Bangladesh’s Acting Foreign Secretary Riaz Hamidullah.

 

“In the discussion, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s statement seeking a peacekeeping force in Bangladesh and BJP leader Subhendu Adhikari’s threat to impose an export embargo on Bangladesh were the top priorities,” said a source.

 

During the meeting, Hamidullah referred to Banerjee's call for India to request the United Nations to send peacekeeping forces to Bangladesh.

 

He also mentioned Adhikari’s statement, where the leader of opposition in Bengal threatened to impose an export embargo on Bangladesh while addressing a demonstration at the Petrapole border on Monday.

 

The Bangladeshi diplomat requested that Verma ask the Indian government to prevent its politicians from making such remarks on Bangladesh’s internal affairs, according to a source at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

 

On Monday, commodity trading across the Petrapole border in North 24 Parganas district was halted for 24 hours due to Adhikari’s demonstration. The BJP leader also warned of further export restrictions if attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh did not stop.

 

“If the attacks on Hindus and their religious establishments do not stop by next week, we will impose a five-day trade embargo. After the beginning of the next year, we will stop exports for an indefinite period. We will see how people in Bangladesh live without our potatoes and onions,” Adhikari said during the border gathering. 

 

The meeting also covered the attack on Bangladesh government establishments in Agartala. After the meeting, Verma described the session as a “regular exchange.” 

 

“This (meeting) was a part of our regular exchanges. We have such a wide-ranging and multi-faceted relationship with Bangladesh that you cannot reduce it to one issue or one agenda,” he said to the press in Dhaka.