New Delhi, Dec 6 (UNI) Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is to visit Bangladesh for the Foreign Office Consultations on December 9 during which all issues of mutual interest would be discussed, the MEA said today.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, answering queries at a briefing, said that the FOC is part of India’s structured interactions with the Bangladesh side.
“He will meet his counterpart and there will be several other meetings during the visit. Foreign Office Consultations led by the Foreign Secretary is a structured engagement between India and Bangladesh. We look forward to this meeting,” he said.
Asked whether he would meet with other officials of the Bangladesh interim government and whether the issue of minorities would be taken up, he said: “Foreign Secretary will discuss all issues of mutual interest during the Foreign Office consultations in Dhaka. His other meetings are being worked out.”
To a question on the rejection of bail of Hindu monk Chinmoy Das and India’s stand on it, the spokesperson said:
“Regarding the situation on the ground (of Chinmoy Das), we want to reiterate our position again that they have legal rights and we hope these legal rights will be respected and the trial will be fair, transparent, and they will get a free and transparent trial.”
The visit of the Foreign Secretary to Bangladesh for the FOC comes amid rise in bilateral tensions over the increasing attacks on the Hindus and other minority community members in that country, and India’s repeated urging to the interim government to ensure their safety and security. The arrest and denial of bail to Chinmoy Das in a sedition case has led to protests in India and even abroad.
Matters came to head earlier this week when a Hindu group held a protest at the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in Agartala, during which some miscreants tore down the Bangladesh national flag and vandalised the premises. Dhaka summoned the Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma on Tuesday to protest the incident.
However, India has stated that its ties with Bangladesh are deep and multi-faceted and it should not be relegated to a single issue.
