New Delhi: Indian envoy to Bangladesh Pranay Verma was summoned by Dhaka Tuesday, a day after protesters entered the premises of the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala and brought down the flag of the South Asian country. All visa and consular services have been suspended at the Assistant High Commission in Agartala due to the prevailing “security situation”.
Verma was summoned at 4 pm Bangladesh Standard Time and met with acting foreign secretary Riaz Hamidullah. Interacting with the media briefly after the meeting with Hamidullah, Verma highlighted that India is willing to engage with Bangladesh, given the broad and multifaceted nature of ties between the two neighbouring countries.
“We have such a wide ranging and multifaceted relationship and you cannot reduce it to one issue or one agenda. We are working across so many issues. We really want to build a positive, stable, constructive relationship moving forward. There are so many things we are doing. There are so many interdependencies we have and we want build on them for our mutual benefit,” said High Commissioner Pranay Verma to the media after meeting with the acting Foreign Secretary
“We have maintained a lot of positive momentum in the relationship. We are willing to engage with the interim government of Bangladesh and we remain interested in working the government of Bangladesh to fulfil our shared aspirations for peace, security and development,” he added.
In a statement Tuesday, the Assistant High Commission in Agartala announced the suspension of all visa and consular services “until further notice” effective immediately due to the security situation facing the mission.
On Monday, a protest rally by the Hindu Sangharsh Samity—an affiliate of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)—was taken out in Agartala, with the demand of the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das, the former leader of ISKCON Bangladesh, who was arrested by Bangladeshi authorities last week.
The protest eventually turned violent, when some protesters breached the premises of the Assistant High Commission and took down the flag of Bangladesh. Tripura police indicated that there were roughly 50 protesters present and the situation was brought back into control within minutes, as reported by ThePrint earlier.
Seven people have been arrested by the police Tuesday, while three police officers have been suspended over the incident. The protesters barged into the Assistant High Commission, even as members from the protest delegation were meeting with the Assistant High Commissioner inside, according to media reports.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a statement Monday called the breach of the diplomatic premises “deeply regrettable” adding that the government is “taking action to step up security arrangements” of Bangladesh’s missions across India.
The Bangladesh foreign ministry in a statement Monday resented the “violent demonstrations” and “attack” on its diplomatic mission in Agartala, adding that Indian law enforcement officials present at the situation “were found not to be active” in containing the situation.
Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, adviser of youth and sports, a part of the interim government of Bangladesh, called for the use of United Nations Peacekeeping Forces to maintain security at its diplomatic missions in India, in the event that New Delhi cannot provide adequate security.
“If India’s law enforcement agencies fail to provide security to the High Commission, they may seek assistance from the United Nations peacekeeping forces. In that case, Bangladesh could increase its support by providing additional troops for the peacekeeping mission,” said Bhuyain in a statement on Facebook Monday.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)