Bangladesh to scale back diplomatic presence in India? What its FM Touhid Hossain said

The Bangladesh interim government's foreign affairs adviser M Touhid Hossain on Sunday said Dhaka would "consider scaling back its presence" in New Delhi if deterioration continues in the situation, which turned grim after the anti-India youth leader Osman Hadi succumbed to the injuries he suffered in an assassination bid.

Hossain's remarks came hours after India rejected as “misleading propaganda” reports in Bangladeshi media that protests outside its mission in New Delhi against the killing of a Hindu man in Mymensingh attempted to create a security situation.




The ministry of external affairs (MEA) had said that about 20-25 youths gathered in front of the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Saturday and raised slogans, protesting the "horrendous killing" of Dipu Chandra Das, 25, who was lynched to death by a mob in Mymensingh on Thursday.

Hossain also said the protesters also did not merely raise slogans over the killing of a Bangladeshi Hindu citizen but made "other statements as well," and claimed that reports published in Bangladeshi newspapers were largely accurate and not misleading, according to news agency PTI.

Hossain, however, said he had no concrete proof about death threats to the Bangladesh envoy in Delhi as speculated.

The strained bilateral relationship between India and Bangladesh has descended a notch lower since Muhammad Yunus has taken charge of the interim government after Sheikh Hasina's ouster.

Also read: Sheikh Hasina on 'reality of Yunus' Bangladesh'; blames interim govt for not protecting minorities

The incident triggered a massive violent protest that swelled into widespread arson, killing, and vandalism outside the Indian high commission and against the Hindu community.

Hossain said Bangladesh was “compelled” to respond openly following the Indian press note but added that both sides remain in contact through diplomatic channels and convey their positions accordingly.

“Regarding the Indian press note, we completely reject it, entirely reject it. The issue has been presented as if it were very simple, whereas in reality it is not,” state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) quoted Hossain as saying at the media briefing.

He questioned how a group of 25 to 30 people, “described as belonging to a Hindu extremist organisation, could reach such a sensitive zone,” adding under normal circumstances this should not have been possible “unless they were allowed the access.”

Hossain also called the MEA statement “oversimplified” saying “they (India) say it may have been 20–25 people, but that is not the point.”