External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has appealed to Bangladesh to review its policy towards India, warning against the tendency to blame all of Bangladesh's problems on New Delhi. He stressed that it is Dhaka's call to decide on the character of its relationship with India.
The remark comes in the wake of a recent visit by Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser, Touhid Hossain, in Muscat.
Speaking at a public event, Jaishankar also urged Bangladesh's caretaker government not to make "absurd" accusations against India. His comments come as Dhaka enters a period of growing aggression against New Delhi, especially since the departure of former Premier Sheikh Hasina in August last year.
Referring to a paradox in Bangladesh's strategy, Jaishankar said the nation cannot pursue close relations with India while consistently accusing it of domestic problems.
"If each day someone in the interim government rises and blames India for everything – some of those things if you read the reports, are simply ridiculous. You cannot, on the one hand, say 'I would now like to have good relations with you, but I wake up every morning and blame you for everything that goes wrong.' It is a choice that they have to make," Jaishankar said.
He also reminded Bangladesh of its "special history" with India, emphasizing that its leadership has to make a decision on the direction they want to go in their diplomatic relations with New Delhi.
Jaishankar Raises Issues Regarding Minority Rights in Bangladesh
The External Affairs Minister also flagged communal attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh, indicating that such occurrences impact bilateral relations.
"Two things are there in the issue that our bilateral relations are facing – one being communal attacks against minorities. The spate of attacks against minorities is something very disturbing for India. It is something that certainly affects our mindset. It is something we need to raise voice against, which we have," Jaishankar said.
He further said that the second variable influencing relations is Bangladesh's domestic politics, which, while a concern for its own citizens, still concerns India as its immediate neighbor.
Sending a strong message to Muhammad Yunus-led Bangladesh, Jaishankar reiterated that India wants to de-escalate tensions but will not stand idly by if Dhaka continues hostility. In his recent meeting with Hossain, he again said that Bangladesh should not "normalize terrorism."
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