Dhaka, July 4: Dhaka will not make a formal statement on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remark on Bangladesh, a top official has said.
Dhaka won’t make the formal statement as it is convinced there is no “necessity” of doing so after official clarifications were given by the Indian government, reported Daily Star.
Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes said Sunday: “I have seen both the statements issued by the Indian external affairs ministry and the high commission in Dhaka. After these two statements, I don’t see the necessity of one more statement on the issue.”
Quayes spoke to mediapersons after a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Rajeet Mitter at the foreign ministry.
In his interaction with a group of editors June 29 here, Manmohan Singh in “off-the-record” remarks spoke candidly about his assessment of the situation in Bangladesh, stating that at least 25 percent of the population “swear by the Jamiat-e-Islami and they are very anti-Indian, and they are in the clutches, many times, of the ISI”.
On Saturday, India’s ministry of external affairs went into damage control mode, asserting that India holds relations with Bangladesh “to be of the highest importance”.
“It is clarified in this regard that these attributed remarks were by no means intended to be judgmental,” said a spokesperson.
The storm over Manmohan Singh’s remark took place just days before Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna is due to arrive in Dhaka July 6 on a three-day official visit for talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Dipu Moni. The visit is preparatory to a a visit by Manmohan Singh.
Quayes said some of Krishna’s programmes in Dhaka might be rearranged as a “hartal issue surfaced”.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies have called a 48-hour shutdown July 6-7 to protest of the abolition of the caretaker system and other constitutional amendments.
–Agencies