Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to visit Bangladesh on December 9
| 2024-12-06
Representative image.
The visit comes amid reports of continuing attacks on Hindus and other minority communities in different parts of Bangladesh
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will visit Bangladesh on December 9, 2024 for the next round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC), the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday (December 6, 2024). In Dhaka, he will meet his Bangladeshi counterpart as well as other officials.
This will be the first high-level engagement with the Bangladesh interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus that was formed following the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government. The visit comes amid reports of continuing attacks and violence against Hindus and other minority communities across different parts of the nation.
“Foreign Office Consultations led by the Foreign Secretary is a structured engagement between India and Bangladesh. We look forward to this meeting,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to a question at the weekly media briefing.
Asked about India’s position on ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das who continues to be under arrest, the MEA Spokesperson expressed the hope that due legal process would be followed. “They have their legal rights and we hope that these legal rights will be respected,” he stated.
According to news reports, Das was arrested in Dhaka last month in connection with a sedition case filed against him in October after leading protests demanding security for Hindus and other minority communities in Bangladesh.
Last week, India called on Bangladesh's interim government to fulfill its responsibility of safeguarding minorities amid increasing incidents of violence and rising extremist rhetoric.
MEA Spokesperson Jaiswal highlighted India’s concerns during the weekly media briefing on November 29, 2024. “The interim government must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities,” he stated, emphasising that India has consistently raised concerns with the Bangladeshi authorities about threats and targeted attacks on Hindus and other minorities.
He also underlined the alarming rise in extremist rhetoric and acts of provocation in Bangladesh, particularly against Hindus. “We are concerned at the surge of extremist rhetoric, increasing incidents of violence, and provocation. These developments cannot be dismissed only as media exaggerations,” he noted.
Addressing specific cases of violence, Jaiswal said, “We once again call upon Bangladesh to take all steps for the protection of minorities,” he urged.
On December 2, 2024, the MEA also condemned the breach of security at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala by a group protesting against the arrest of Das. Calling the incident “deeply regrettable,” the MEA assured that the government would take action to step up security at Bangladeshi missions across India.
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