Bangladesh must decide what kind of relationship they want: Jaishankar
Last Updated on February 24, 2025 6:26 am
Terming the ‘anti-India’ statements of the advisors of the Bangladesh interim government as ‘ridiculous’, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that Bangladesh needs to decide what kind of relationship it wants with India.
He said, ‘We have given a very clear message – you are our neighbour, we want the situation to be calm, we want trade, communication and other things to move forward; but if such messages or signals are continuously given which are hostile towards India, we will definitely not like that.’
He said these things about Bangladesh at the Literature Fest organized at Delhi University on Saturday. News agency United News of India.
Jaishankar said, ‘We definitely want the well-being of all our neighbours. We have a long history with Bangladesh; it is a special relationship, which has been going on since 1971. But some incidents happened last year, as you all know. I think it is a matter of great concern for us.
Citering two issues in Bangladesh as “very concerning” for India, Jaishankar said, “Firstly, the series of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh; I think it is having a significant impact on our thinking and it is something that we should talk about and we are talking about.
Secondly, they have their own politics, you may or may not agree, at the end of the day we are neighbours. They have to decide what kind of relationship they want with us. Because if a member of the interim government of Bangladesh gets up every day and keeps blaming India for everything, and some things, if you read the news, it is completely ridiculous.’
The Indian foreign minister said, ‘If I get up every morning and keep blaming you, then you alone will not be able to say, ‘I want good relations with you.’ Then they will have to take this decision on what kind of relations they want with us.’
On Friday, a journalist asked at the Indian foreign ministry briefing that the advisors of the interim government of Bangladesh are making various anti-India statements, sometimes quite violent. Are they affecting the bilateral discussions or bilateral negotiations?’
In response, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, ‘Yes, we have taken note of such statements, they are definitely not good. The impact of this on a specific issue will be highlighted by the people concerned.’