PM Modi chairs high-level meet on Bangladesh unrest

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that briefed him on the situation unfolding in Bangladesh.

Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister S Jaishankar, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, principal secretary to PM PK Mishra, Research and Analysis Wing chief Ravi Sinha and Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka were present.

The meeting chaired by the prime minister comes amid the political crisis unfolding in neighbouring Bangladesh after its prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country. Hasina arrived at Hindon Airbase wherein she met national security advisor Ajit Doval.

Hasina stepped down after leading Bangladesh for 15 years after protests against her that erupted in mid-July over a quota order escalated into calls for her ouster. The controversial quota system provided for 30 per cent reservations in civil services jobs for the families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war.

Following her exit from the country, the Bangladesh Army has announced that it will help in the formation of an interim government. Army chief Waker-uz-Zaman announced that the military would take over responsibility for law and order. More than 100 people have been killed in the protests against the Hasina government over the last two days.

Hasina had won a fourth straight term only in January this year in an election boycotted by the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Begum Khaleda Zia. She had ruled since winning a decades-long power struggle with Zia in 2009.

India has suspended all the train services to Bangladesh indefinitely. As per the Ministry of Railways, Maitri Express, Bandhan Express and Mitali Express operated their last trips in mid-July this year and have been cancelled since then due to violent protests in Bangladesh.