Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said on Thursday that India and Bangladesh will “work together” to combat terrorism.
After a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart here, the Indian foreign secretary told reporters that the two countries would “further strengthen their existing counter-terrorism structure. I am also here to convey the government of India’s strong support to Bangladesh as it is battling terrorism and extremism. This is an issue of direct concern for us as a neighbour.” Mr. Jaishankar, who held a breakfast meeting with a group of civil society leaders on Thursday, said Bangladesh and India can resolve their pending bilateral issues through maintaining good relations.
Support for trials
In a separate development, India came out with open support for Bangladesh’s ongoing war crimes trial, which has sentenced several Islamist leaders to death.
“India has also been supportive of a judicial process to address pending issues of retributive justice for war crimes committed during the movement for the independence of Bangladesh in 1971,” Vikas Swarup, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement. The statement comes two days after Bangladesh hanged Motiur Rahman Nizami, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh for his role in war crimes during the country’s 1971 Liberation war.
Protest note Meanwhile, Dhaka on on Thursday handed over a protest note to Pakistan in response to Islamabad’s condemnation of Nizami’s execution. For the second time this week, Shuja Alam, the Pakistani envoy, was summoned to the foreign office and handed over the note.
Earlier this week, Dhaka had asked Islamabad to stop meddling in its internal affairs.
Pakistan’s Parliament had passed a unanimous resolution on Wednesday condemning the execution. In another incident of protest against the hanging, Turkey has reportedly recalled its Ambassador to Bangladesh, Devrim Ozturk.
(With inputs from Kallol Bhattacherjee in New Delhi)
