Willing to engage, want to build constructive relationship: Indian envoy after meeting Bangladesh officials

Pranay Verma, the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, who was summoned by Dhaka amid the breach at the country’s mission in Agartala, on Tuesday said that the meeting was a part of their regular exchanges, and added that they cannot reduce ties to one agenda.

According to Bangladeshi media, Verma was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Dhaka lodged a strong protest against the alleged vandalism of its mission.

However, after meeting the acting foreign secretary Riaz Hamidullah, the Indian envoy said that Delhi wants to build a ‘constant, stable, constructive relationship’.

“This (meeting) was a part of our regular exchanges. We have such a wide-ranging and multi-faceted relationship with Bangladesh that you cannot reduce it to one issue or one agenda. We really want to build a positive, stable and constructive relationship moving forward,” said Verma.

He added that there are so many inter-dependencies they have, and they want to build on those to mutual benefit.

“We have maintained a lot of positive momentum in the relationship. We are willing to engage with the interim govt of Bangladesh, and we remain interested in working with Bangladesh to fulfil our shared aspirations for peace, security and development.”

On Monday, India described the Agartala incident, where a group of people protested against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das as “deeply regrettable.”

The comments by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came hours after the protesters reportedly barged into the assistant high commission of Bangladesh and allegedly resorted to vandalism.

Earlier in the day, terming the vandalism at Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission in Agartala as India’s “failure,” Law Affairs Adviser in the interim government Asif Nazrul asked New Delhi to reassess its neighbour afresh after the toppling of the Sheikh Hasina regime.

“We believe in a friendship based on equality and mutual respect. While Sheikh Hasina’s government followed a pro-India policy to cling to power without elections, India must realise that this is not Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh,” he wrote in a Facebook post.