We ‘Constantly Watch’ Matters With Bearing on India's Security: MEA on B'desh-China-Pak Meet

New Delhi: India is vigilant of developments in its neighbourhood that “have a bearing” on its “interest and security”, the external affairs ministry said of a recent trilateral meeting between Bangladesh, China and Pakistan, adding that it factors in the “evolving context” in its individual bilateral relations with these countries.

Meanwhile, the ministry also accused Bangladesh's interim government of “allowing the destruction” of a Durga temple in Dhaka as well as of “projecting” it as an incident of “illegal land use”, adding that it was “dismayed” that such incidents have recurred in the country.

During a trilateral meeting in Kunming, China on June 19 involving Chinese vice foreign minister Sun Weidong, Bangladeshi acting foreign secretary Ruhul Siddique and Pakistani additional foreign secretary Imran Siddiqui, the three sides agreed to explore cooperation in a number of sectors including trade, ‘maritime affairs’, health and the environment.

Asked for comment on the meeting during the ministry's weekly press briefing on Thursday (June 26), spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that “we maintain a constant watch on the developments in our neighbourhood that have a bearing on our interest and our security”.

“Our relations with individual countries, while they stand on their own footing, take into account the evolving context as well,” he added.

New Delhi's remarks suggest a degree of discomfort with the trilateral meeting, comprising countries with whom it either has hostile or uneasy relations, and come as it has otherwise publicly espoused the view that it does not see bilateral relations through the lens of third countries.

Incidentally, the Chinese readout of the trilateral meeting had noted that cooperation among the three sides was “not directed at any third party”.

Dhaka echoed this view on Thursday, with its interim foreign adviser Touhid Hossain telling reporters that the meeting was “certainly” not “targeting any third party”.

“We are not forming any alliance. It was a meeting at the official level, not at the political level,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

He also acknowledged that Dhaka's relationship with New Delhi was undergoing “readjustment” during the tenure of Muhammad Yunus's interim government as compared to warmer relations earlier under deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has remained in India since she took refuge here immediately after her violent ouster in August last year.

Bilateral relations have soured after Yunus took office, with India insisting that religious minorities in Bangladesh have been vulnerable to being attacked under his watch. Dhaka on the other hand has said that the Indian government's version of the issue is “exaggerated”.

Interim government ‘responsible for protecting Hindus’

The issue of Bangladesh's religious minorities also figured during Thursday's presser, with Jaiswal being asked about the reported damage to a Durga temple in Dhaka, supposedly at the behest of ‘extremists’.

“We understand that extremists were clamouring for demolishing the Durga temple in Khilkhet, Dhaka,” Jaiswal said in response.

He continued: “The interim government, instead of providing security to the temple, projected the episode as illegal land use … and they allowed the destruction of the temple today. This has resulted in damage to the deity before it was shifted.”

“We are dismayed that such incidents continue to recur in Bangladesh. Let me underline that it is the responsibility of the interim government of Bangladesh to protect Hindus, their properties and religious institutions,” said Jaiswal.

Reports on the incident, which The Wire could not independently confirm, have claimed that the temple was ‘demolished’ during an eviction drive by railways authorities in Bangladesh with assistance from police and military personnel.

At least a day prior to the eviction drive the temple was reportedly targeted by some locals.

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