Staff Reporter:
India on Friday said the comments attributed to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina have been made in her individual capacity in which India has no role to play.
Bangladesh acting High Commissioner to India Md Nural Islam was summoned by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to the South Block to convey India’s position.
MEA official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said it was conveyed that India desires a positive, constructive and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh, which has been reiterated several times in recent high-level meetings.
“It is, however, regrettable that regular statements made by Bangladesh authorities continue to portray India negatively, holding us responsible for internal governance issues,” he said.
These statements by Bangladesh are in fact responsible for the persistent negativity, said the MEA spokesperson in response to media queries on summoning the Bangladesh acting high commissioner.
Conflating this with the government of India’s position is not going to help add positivity to bilateral relations, he said.
“While the government of India will make efforts for a mutually beneficial relationship we expect that Bangladesh will reciprocate similarly without vitiating the atmosphere,” the MEA spokesperson added.
