New Delhi: External affairs minister S. Jaishankar rebuffed his Bangladeshi counterpart’s call for India to allow a meeting of the SAARC foreign secretaries, saying it was “important” that Dhaka does “not normalise terrorism”.
Days after Bangladesh said that interim foreign adviser Touhid Hossain brought up the issue with Jaishankar during their meeting at the Indian Ocean Conference in Oman on Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that SAARC figured in the conversation.
“Everyone in South Asia is aware of which country and what activities are responsible for stymieing SAARC,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday (February 21), adding that Jaishankar “conveyed that it is important that Bangladesh should not normalise terrorism”.
The 2016 SAARC summit in Pakistan was cancelled after India withdrew following the attack on a military base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir.
There have been no SAARC summits since then and the last meeting of the SAARC Standing Committee, which comprises the grouping’s foreign secretaries, was held in March 2016.
Dhaka had earlier said that during their meeting in Muscat, Hossain spoke of the “importance of holding the meeting of SAARC Standing Committee and requested consideration of the government of India in this regard”.
But New Delhi’s only public comment on the meeting at the time was an X post by Jaishankar, who said that the “conversation was focused on our bilateral relationship, as also on BIMSTEC”. He did not mention SAARC.
When also asked during the weekly press briefing on Friday if adverse remarks by members of Bangladesh’s interim government were affecting bilateral talks, Jaiswal appeared to answer in the affirmative.
“Yes, we obviously have taken note of such remarks which are of course not helpful,” he answered, adding: “It is for the concerned individuals to reflect on implications for their particular domain.”
Indo-Bangladeshi ties have been strained ever since the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government took over the reins following the violent ouster and fleeing to India of former premier Sheikh Hasina, who is perceived as having been close to New Delhi.
Members of the interim government in Dhaka – which has asked for Hasina’s extradition but received no response from the Modi government – including Yunus have criticised New Delhi as relations have soured.
While India has raised concerns over continued attacks on minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh, Dhaka has maintained that its figures are exaggerated.
