Foreign secretaries meet: India raises concern over minorities in B'desh

India on Monday expressed concerns over the safety of minorities in Bangladesh and its desire for a "positive, constructive and mutually beneficial" relationship with the neighbour as Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held high-level talks with his counterpart in Dhaka.

In the first high-level visit by an Indian official since August 5 when prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted and fled to India, Misri said he had a "frank, candid and constructive exchange of views" with Foreign Secretary Mohammad Jashim Uddin here.

"I conveyed our concerns, including those related to the safety and welfare of minorities. We also discussed some regrettable incidents of attacks on cultural, religious and diplomatic properties," Misri told reporters.

 

"I emphasized that India desires a positive, constructive and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh," he said.

Misri said their talks allowed both sides to take stock of bilateral relations.

"We have always seen in the past, and we continue to see in the future, this relationship as people-centric, and people-oriented relationship, one that has the benefit of all the people, as its central motivational force," he said.

The close ties between India and Bangladesh came under severe strain after Hasina was forced to leave the country in the face of a massive anti-government protest in August. Nobel Peace laureate Mohammad Yunus came to power days after Hasina fled to India.

The relations deteriorated further in recent weeks over attacks on Hindus and the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das.

There have been a spate of incidents of violence against Hindus and other minorities, as well as attacks on temples in Bangladesh in the last few weeks that triggered strong concerns in New Delhi.

Analysts speculated that recent incidents, including the arrest of the Hindu monk in Bangladesh, the alleged harassment of the minority community and attacks on Hindu temples in Bangladesh, and the attack on the Bangladesh mission in Agartala are likely to figure in the FS-level talks.

Interim government head Yunus earlier said India might not have liked the revolution ousting a fascist regime. Members of his interim Cabinet said Indian media was largely exaggerating the harassment of minorities.

Dhaka said the sporadic violence was a manifestation of an outburst of anger against the leaders and activists of the ousted Hasina regime and the Hindus who were harassed were related to her Awami League party and the violence had nothing to do with their religious faith.

In September, foreign affairs adviser Mohammad Touhid Hossain met briefly with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in New York on the sidelines of a UN general assembly meeting.