#DonaldTrump#NarendraModi#India#US#Bangladesh#SheikhHasina#BangladeshCrisis#BangladeshTurmoil#IndiaUS
Washington DC/IBNS-CMEDIA: US President Donald Trump has denied his country’s “deep state” role in the ongoing Bangladesh crisis which started after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government and said the matter will be dealt with by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Well, there was no role for our deep state… This is something that the Prime Minister has been working on for a long time and has been working on it for hundreds of years.
“Frankly, I’ve been reading about it, but I will leave Bangladesh to the Prime Minister,” Trump said, speaking to the reporters with Modi sitting by his side.
The tension between India and Bangladesh brewed after Hasina fled the country facing massive, violent protests against her government and sought refuge in India.
Following the toppling of her Awami League-led government, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus returned to Bangladesh and took charge of an interim government.
Since Hasina’s ouster, Bangladesh has witnessed continuous attacks on Hindu community members and clashes between Awami League and Yunus supporters.
Even in a recent incident, thousands of protesters set the family residence of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on fire, triggering tension in the country last week.
Hasina and several members of her former government are facing numerous charges for offences, including crime against humanity, for launching a crackdown on protesters during the July-August uprising.
On February 7, the Ministry of External Affairs [MEA] had summoned Md. Nurul Islam, the Bangladesh Acting High Commissioner, to the South Block in New Delhi.
Speaking on the summoning, the MEA had said in a statement, “It was conveyed that India desires a positive, constructive and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh, which has been reiterated several times in recent high-level meetings. It is, however, regrettable that regular statements made by Bangladesh authorities continue to portray India negatively, holding us responsible for internal governance issues. These statements by Bangladesh are in fact responsible for the persistent negativity.”
“Comments attributed to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have been made in her individual capacity in which India has no role to play. Conflating this with the Government of India’s position is not going to help add positivity to bilateral relations.”
The MEA reiterated India’s commitment to “mutually beneficial relationship” and expected Bangladesh for reciprocation.
