Bangladesh and India hold talks to repair strained relations
Foreign secretaries meet to defuse tensions over alleged targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh and mob attack on Dhaka’s consular mission in India
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Your support makes all the difference.The foreign secretaries of Bangladesh and India met in Dhaka on Monday to discuss relations between the neighbours, including growing tensions since the fall of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled into exile in India in August.
The tensions have grown over the recent arrest in Bangladesh of a Hindu priest under the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Alleged attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh and on a Bangladesh diplomatic mission in India were expected to feature prominently in the talks. India stopped issuing visas for Bangladeshis except emergency medical visas after Ms Hasina's ouster.
Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misra was holding the daylong talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin in the first high-level visit by an Indian official since massive protests ended Ms Hasina's 15-year rule.
Ms Hasina is thought to be a trusted friend of Hindu-majority India, which has raised concerns over allegations of attacks on religious minorities, especially Hindus, in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, since her ouster.
Most Bangladeshi Hindus are thought to be supporters of Ms Hasina’s secular Awami League party.
A Hindu mob recently attacked a Bangladeshi diplomatic office in Agartala, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Tripura, in reaction to the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Das Prabhu, who had led large rallies in recent months demanding better security for Hindus in Bangladesh. Late last month, Hindu protesters also burned Bangladeshi flags in Kolkata, the capital of India’s eastern state of West Bengal, triggering protests by the Yunus government.
Other political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by Khaleda Zia, Ms Hasina’s main political foe, and Islamist groups have protested against the attacks in Tripura.
Hindus also protested in parts of India against alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and the jailing of Mr Prabhu.
Mr Misra is to pay courtesy calls on Mr Yunus and foreign adviser Touhid Hossain before leaving for New Delhi later on Monday.