United News of Bangladesh. Dhaka | Published: 16:31, Aug 18, 2023
India has conveyed to the US that the way various steps are being taken by the US to destabilize the Hasina government is not positive for the overall security of India as a neighboring country and South Asia as a whole, reports Anandabazar Patrika.
India is not happy with the current role of America centering the upcoming elections in Bangladesh and this message has also been conveyed to Washington, said the newspaper published from Kolkata quoting unnamed sources.
According to New Delhi, India, like Washington, wants a fair and free election in Dhaka.
In next three weeks, US president Joe Biden and Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina will share the same stage in New Delhi as they will attend G20 Leaders Summit.
Before that, this message from India is considered to be significant enough, according to Anandabazar.
South Block( the seat of India’s external affairs ministry) thinks that if Jamaat-e-Islami is given ‘political concession’ Dhaka will be taken over by fundamentalism in the near future, reads the report that also mentioned that the liberal environment that exists will no longer exist.
New Delhi feels that if Hasina’s government in Bangladesh is weak, it will not be good for either India or America.
According to diplomatic sources, New Delhi communicated this to the Biden administration at multiple levels of meetings.
According to the diplomatic camp, the security system of the entire region has turned upside down after the decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.
India’s Northeast Frontier region is in a dangerous situation, said the report.
The Taliban is now at the peak of power in Afghanistan.
It is believed that the US made a closed-door deal with Afghanistan without considering its women, children and minorities, and is now facing the consequences.
The Ministry of External Affairs feels that America’s policy towards Kabul as well as India’s other neighbours is increasing New Delhi’s discomfort with questions of national interest, said the report.
Bangladesh has the longest land border with India.
As a result, any adverse situation in that country affects India as well.
Quoting the sources, the report mentioned that New Delhi has told the Biden administration that if the Jamaat is patronized to grow, India’s cross-border terrorism can increase and China’s influence in Bangladesh will increase a lot, which is not desired by Washington.
It is believed that America always tries to show Jamaat as an Islamic political organization.
America compared Jamaat with the Muslim Brotherhood. But in reality, the report said, New Delhi is in no doubt that the Jamaat is in the hands of radical fundamentalist organizations and Pakistan.
The Biden administration has announced a separate visa policy for Bangladesh only.
According to sources, New Delhi does not think it is justified at all.
As a result of this new visa policy, those who try to disrupt the upcoming elections in Bangladesh will not be allowed to enter America.
The diplomatic camp feels that the American administration directly interfered with the internal politics of Bangladesh by applying its own country’s laws and adopting a separate visa policy for that country, reads the report.
Recently, a five-member delegation of Bangladesh Awami League visited New Delhi and held meetings with the top leadership of BJP and the ministers of the central government.
There, they also gave a message that the BNP-Jamaat alliance is dangerous in terms of maintaining regional stability.
Leader of the delegation Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque held a positive meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Right after that meeting, he said, ‘We told India that regional stability is important for both countries. The government led by prime minister Sheikh Hasina is committed to not allowing the soil of Bangladesh to be used for anti-India activities.’