India today rejected Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus's recent statement attributing his country's current crisis to Indian "hegemonism", calling it an exercise in "deflection".
Responding to a query during the weekly media briefing, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "It is the responsibility of the current government in Bangladesh to address its own governance issues and challenges."
He added, "To say that it is due to extraneous faults or due to this or that reason does not lead to any solution to the challenges. It appears that you want to deflect the attention from the issues and challenges of governance and take them to a different direction."
Jaiswal's remarks come after Yunus reportedly made this remark during a meeting with political parties on May 25.
After that meeting on Sunday, Nagarik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna had said, "The chief adviser has said that due to Indian hegemony, the country is facing a major crisis. Therefore, he believes that the entire nation needs to be united."
Jaiswal said India want a positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh, "one that is anchored in meeting the aspirations and interests of the people of that country."
Addressing concerns about the political situation in Bangladesh, he said, "Bangladesh needs to ascertain the will and mandate of the people by holding a free, fair, and inclusive election."