External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has called on Bangladesh to decide what kind of relationship it seeks with India, emphasising the shared history between the two nations dating back to 1971. Speaking at the Delhi University Literature Festival on February 23, Jaishankar criticised the constant accusations against India by members of Bangladesh’s interim government, describing some of the allegations as “absolutely ridiculous.”
“You cannot, on one hand, say you want good relations with India, but on the other hand, wake up every morning and blame us for everything that goes wrong,” he remarked.
“If every day someone in the interim govt stands up and blames India for everything, some of those things if you look at the reports, are absolutely ridiculous. You cannot, on the one hand, say I would now like to have good relations with you, but I get up every morning and blame you for everything that goes wrong. It is also a decision that they have to make,” said Jaishankar, addressing a public event on Saturday.
He said there are two aspects to the problems that the bilateral ties are facing, the first being the communal attacks on minorities. “The spate of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, obviously it is something which impacts our thinking and it is something we have to speak up about, which we have done. The second aspect is they have their politics, but at the end of the day, the two countries are neighbours,” he said.
Reaffirming India’s longstanding bond with Bangladesh, Jaishankar cautioned that Dhaka cannot seek normal relations while simultaneously holding New Delhi responsible for its domestic challenges. He also expressed concern over the continued negative messaging from Bangladesh, urging a more balanced approach to bilateral ties.
