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India protests social media post by key member of Bangladesh interim government
Relations between New Delhi and Dhaka cratered after the interim government headed by Yunus came to power in August, days after Hasina fled to India
NEW DELHI: India has lodged a strong protest with Bangladesh over a social media post by a close aide of interim government head Muhammad Yunus that depicted Indian territories as part of the neighbouring country.
The controversial post on Facebook by Mahfuz Alam, who is a de facto minister without portfolio and special assistant to Yunus, added to the strains between the two countries. Alam deleted the post after it attracted widespread criticism.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing on Friday that leaders such as Alam should be “mindful” of their public comments.
“We have taken this up with the Bangladesh government. We have strongly registered a protest on this issue. We understand that the post being referred to has reportedly been taken down,” Jaiswal said.
“We would like to remind all concerned to be mindful of their public comments. While India has repeatedly signalled interest in fostering relations with the people and the interim government of Bangladesh, such comments underline the need for responsibility in public articulation,” he said.
People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that the Indian high commission in Dhaka submitted a note verbale or unsigned diplomatic communication to Bangladesh’s foreign ministry to protest against the matter.
Alam had referred to purported cultural differences between India’s northeastern states and the rest of the country in the post on December 16, when Bangladesh commemorated its victory over the Pakistan Army in the Liberation War of 1971. His post included a map that depicted Assam, Tripura and West Bengal as part of Bangladesh.
He further contended that India should recognise the uprising that led to former premier Sheikh Hasina relinquishing power in August.
Relations between New Delhi and Dhaka cratered after the interim government headed by Yunus came to power in August, days after Hasina fled to India. The targeting of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority and the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das have added to the strains. Yunus and other leaders of the minority government have spoken of seeking Hasina’s extradition from India.
When Jaiswal was asked about Yunus not setting a specific time frame for holding parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, he did not give a clear response. Yunus recently said the elections could be held between late 2025 and early 2026, depending on the implementation of various reforms.
“We have very clearly defined our approach towards our ties with Bangladesh. We have said that we support a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh,” Jaiswal said.
India has expressed its willingness to build a positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh “based on mutual trust, respect and mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns and interests”, he said.
“We have also emphasised that the people of Bangladesh are the main stakeholders in the India-Bangladesh relations and noted that India’s development cooperation and multi-faceted engagements with Bangladesh, including in the areas of connectivity, trade, power, energy and capacity building, are all geared towards benefiting the people of Bangladesh,” Jaiswal said.
Jaiswal was also asked about Yunus’s offer to host the long-delayed summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) in Bangladesh following his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Cairo, and he responded by saying that India is pushing regional cooperation through various mechanisms.
“Our efforts have been to boost regional cooperation. We want to move forward with platforms like Bimstec,” he said. “Saarc is another platform...You know why cooperation under Saarc is not moving forward,” he added.
Saarc, which comprises India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has largely been moribund since 2016, when India pulled out of a summit that was to be held in Islamabad.
After a terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in September 2016 that was blamed on a Pakistan-based terror group, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit because of “prevailing circumstances”. Subsequently, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan too declined to participate in the meeting.
Since then, India has made concerted efforts to make the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) the main forum for regional cooperation.
