Foreign secretary Vikram Misri to visit Dhaka on Dec 9 amid attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri will visit Bangladesh on December 9, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) announced on Friday.
Misri’s visit to Dhaka comes amid strained ties between the two countries in wake of increasing attacks on Hindus in the neighboring nation.
“The foreign secretary is scheduled to visit Bangladesh for Foreign Office Consultations on December 9. This is part of our structured interactions with the Bangladesh side,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was quoted by PTI as saying.
Hindus attacked in Bangladesh
The ties between India and Bangladesh are strained in wake of Hindus being attacked in the neighbouring country since the ouster of its prime minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5.
The minority Hindu community in Muslim-majority Bangladesh has reportedly faced more than 200 attacks in 50-odd districts after Hasina’s Awami League government fell, PTI reported.
The relations between the two countries deteriorated after Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested last month on sedition charges.
“We have spoken on this issue earlier. We would like to reiterate our expectation that relevant legal processes underway in Bangladesh are executed in a fair, just and transparent manner, ensuring full respect for the legal rights of concerned individuals,” the MEA spokesperson said on Friday.
India last week said the interim government in Bangladesh must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities as it expressed serious concern over the “surge” of extremist rhetoric and increasing incidents of violence against Hindus.
The United States has called persecution of minorities in Bangladesh as “worrisome”.
“Right now, we are treating the news coming in from Bangladesh with concern. We are closely monitoring the situation,” PTI quoted US State Department spokesperson Margaret McLeod.
“We expect that everyone in the entire region should get freedom to live according to his religion and belief. We express our concern in discussions with all our partners, including the interim government of Bangladesh,” said MacLeod, who is the US department’s Hindi and Urdu spokesperson and Deputy Director of London International Media Hub.