Bangladesh Deputy Foreign Minister Shahriar Alam has cancelled his visit to India because of large scale protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Alam was scheduled to visit New Delhi to participate in the Raisina Dialogue, organized by the Observer Research Foundation, and hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Raisina Dialogue is a multilateral conference committed to addressing the most challenging issues facing the global community. This year, the programme is scheduled from January 14 to 16.
This is the third time Dhaka has called off visit of a minister to India during the last one month.
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on on December 12, 2019 had cancelled their visits to India because of large scale protests against the CAA.
While Momen was scheduled to visit New Delhi, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan cancelled his visit to Meghalaya.
Again on December 20, 2019, a dialogue on the sharing of river data between India and Bangladesh was also cancelled.
Though Bangladesh government is downplaying the issue of cancellation of the visits of the ministers, it is definite that Dhaka is not euphoric with New Delhi’s stand on the CAA.
According to reports, Dhaka is not happy with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s allegations of Hindus being persecuted by the Bangladeshi government.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister, AK Abdul Momen had issued a cautious warning to New Delhi over the citizenship law. He said allegation of oppression of minorities by his government was not true.