Mohammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government in Bangladesh, has played down concerns over deteriorating ties with India, asserting that the Southeast Asian neighbours were victim to some “propaganda” but that there were attempts to overcome it. The two nations are “highly interdependent”, so their ties cannot be bad, he said.
There has been no deterioration in the relations between the two countries, he replied when asked if their student uprising impacted India-Bangladesh ties. The two countries have been close historically, politically and economically, he asserted in an exclusive interview with BBC Bangla.
India and Bangladesh’s diplomatic ties nosedived in the immediate aftermath of Sheikh Hasina’s ouster on August 5 last year. Ms Hasina, a close ally of India, had fled to India fearing a threat to her life and now lives in exile in Delhi. Widespread attacks on Hindu minorities and monks in protests in Bangladesh also provoked India’s ire.
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Mr Yunus, however, played down the concerns and said the two nations will continue to maintain a good relationship.
“Bangladesh-India relations cannot be bad. Our relation is close, and we are highly interdependent. We are close historically, politically, and economically and we cannot deviate from it. Some conflict had appeared in the middle due to some propaganda. I will let others determine the source of such misinformation. As a result of this, we had a misunderstanding and we are trying to overcome it,” said Yunus.
Asked if he has direct contact with the Indian government, he said, “yes”.
“There has been continuous communication. They come here and our people go there. I spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi in my first week (in power) itself,” added Yunus, who holds the Chief Advisor to the Bangladesh government.
Read: Sheikh Hasina Vows To Return To Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus Responds
His remarks come at a time Bangladesh is pursuing India to extradite Hasina, facing an arrest warrant for “crimes against humanity and genocide”. A top official in the Yunus government had said in December that they have sent a diplomatic message to India seeking Hasina’s custody for the judicial process.
Days later, India had confirmed receiving a request from Bangladesh, but did not elaborate.
The 77-year-old Awami League leader, who had fled to India after her government was toppled last year, has vowed to return to Bangladesh to avenge the “killings” that she had claimed were carried out to throw her out of power. However, her party may not be allowed to participate in the elections, an adviser to Yunus had said.