Comments of ex-PM Hasina made in her individual capacity: India

Comments attributed to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have been made in her individual capacity in which India has no role to play, spokesperson of India’s foreign ministry Randhir Jaiswal said Friday.

He further said, “Conflating this (speech of Hasina) with the Government of India’s position is not going to help add positivity to bilateral relations.”

Randhir Jaiswal said this in response to media queries on summoning of Bangladesh Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi Nural Islam Friday afternoon.

“The Bangladesh Acting High Commissioner to India, Md. Nural Islam, was summoned by MEA to the South Block today, at 5:00 pm.”

According to him, “It was conveyed that India desires a positive, constructive and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh, which has been reiterated several times in recent high-level meetings.

It is, however, regrettable that regular statements made by Bangladesh authorities continue to portray India negatively, holding us responsible for internal governance issues. These statements by Bangladesh are in fact responsible for the persistent negativity.”

“Comments attributed to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have been made in her individual capacity in which India has no role to play. Conflating this with the Government of India’s position is not going to help add positivity to bilateral relations,” he added.

In the official response, Randhir Jaiswal also stated, “While the Government of India will make efforts for a mutually beneficial relationship we expect that Bangladesh will reciprocate similarly without vitiating the atmosphere.”