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India can at least ‘put restrictions’ on Hasina

Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain tells The Hindu
Dhaka Diplomat Desk
  18 Feb 2025, 14:51
File Photo

Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain has called on India to restrict Sheikh Hasina from making "incendiary and false" statements publicly.
In an interview with The Hindu, on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Conference in Muscat, the foreign adviser also touched upon a number of issues saying that India's relationship with Bangladesh should not be "regime specific".
Asked by the Chennai-based Indian newspaper about Bangladesh's expectations from India regarding Sheikh Hasina, Touhid said Bangladesh has already requested that the former prime minister -- accused in scores of murder cases -- be extradited.
"As long as the Indian government doesn't do that, we would expect they can at least put some restrictions on her so that she does not make incendiary and false statements which instigate reactions among the people," Touhid was quoted as saying by the Hindu.
He added that the issue remains deeply sensitive, particularly given Hasina's 15 years in power, and said her actions continue to provoke strong reactions in Bangladesh.
Touhid further stressed that the India-Bangladesh relationship should not be "regime-specific", arguing that political ties between the two nations must transcend individual governments. Reflecting on the historical cooperation between the two countries, he said.
"Whichever government, whichever party, is in power in our two capitals, that should not affect our relations."
Touhid also clarified that the Bangladesh government is committed to protecting minority communities, dismissing allegations of widespread violence as sensationalised by Indian media.
"I would invite you to go through the findings of the UN, which has been published two days ago, and says that [the interim government was not involved in the violence]. They came at our request as we wanted an absolutely neutral survey of the situation," he said.
Regarding the Adani power project, Touhid mentioned that the interim government in Bangladesh is currently in talks with the Indian conglomerate.
He indicated that while the initial power agreements had faced criticism due to high tariffs, the government is now negotiating for a more reasonable deal.
"We will look at it with the Adani Group and try to make it more rational," he said, adding that the restoration of power supply is a priority for Bangladesh's ongoing infrastructure projects.
After holding talks with his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, at the Omani capital, Touhid said he hoped that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus may finally meet on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in April. He told the Hindu that he had mentioned it to the Indian foreign minister but nothing concrete has emerged yet, as these things are planned just days ahead once the full programme is finalised.
Our New Delhi correspondent contributed to this report.

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