‘Bangladesh wanted good ties with India, but…’: Muhammad Yunus targets Indian press
Muhammad Yunus also talked about Bangladesh seeking ousted PM Sheikh Hasina’s extradition from India and said they want the process to be “very legal, proper”.
Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, while talking about his country’s ties with India, said his government has always wanted good relations with India but “some always went wrong”.
Muhammad Yunus made the statement while speaking with Chatham House think tank director Bronwen Maddox in London on Wednesday. While speaking on bettering Bangladesh’s ties with India, Yunus said, “We want to build the best of relationship with India. It’s our neighbour, we don’t want to have any kind of basic problem with them.”
“But somehow things go wrong every time because of all the fake news coming from the Indian press… and many people say it has connections with policymakers on the top," he added.
“This is what makes Bangladesh very jittery, very very angry. We try to get over this anger but… the whole barrage of things keep happening in cyberspace, we can’t get away from that.”
Indian authorities have not reacted to Yunus’ remarks yet.
Also read: PM Modi brushed aside request to stop Sheikh Hasina’s political statements, says Yunus
Muhammad Yunus on Sheikh Hasina’s extradition from India
During the same interaction, Yunus also talked about Bangladesh seeking ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s extradition from India after her indictment by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal. He said that Bangladesh wants the process of her extradition to be “very legal, very proper”.
“This will continue…another stage has come, now there is a case. The International Crimes Tribunal has started the trial process; they sent notices to Hasina for all the crimes she has committed… So, they have to respond to the notices,” Yunus said.
“This is a legal notice, so we have to go to the Interpol and all the other things that happen through that. This is the process that we are following; we want it to be very legal, very proper.”
Also read: Bangladesh interim chief Yunus not interested in being part of new elected govt
Yunus also said that he interacted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to prevent Sheikh Hasina from making political statements from Indian soil, however, his concerns were brushed aside.
“When I had a chance to talk to Prime Minister Modi, I simply said you want to host her, I cannot force you to abandon that policy. But please help us in making sure she doesn’t speak to Bangladeshi people the way she is doing. She announces on such and such day and at such and such hour she will speak, and the whole of Bangladesh gets very angry,” Yunus said.
He further claimed that after flagging his concerns, PM Modi told him that social media can not be controlled.
With inputs from Rezaul H Laskar.
