Mohammad Yunus (left), PM Modi (right)
The interim government of Bangladesh has recalled its ambassadors from five countries including India. Apart from India, ambassadors of Bangladesh from Australia, Belgium, Portugal and the United Nations have been recalled. After Sheikh Hasina stepped down from the post of Prime Minister, relations between Bangladesh and India have not been anything special. At the same time, people associated with the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh believe that the orders of the Administrative Division have not been good for the country’s foreign policy. These people say that many of the ambassadors who have been recalled, including the High Commissioner to India, were not political appointees.
Apart from High Commissioner to India Mustafizur Rahman, others who have been recalled include the Permanent Representative to the UN in New York and Bangladesh’s ambassadors to Australia, Belgium and Portugal. The ambassadors who have been recalled were scheduled to retire in the coming months. High Commissioner to India Rahman is also included in these.
India is not happy with the decisions of Yunus government
There were continuous protests led by student organizations in Bangladesh. This led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in early August and she was forced to leave the country. India-Bangladesh relations are in bad shape after this incident. A caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge days after Hasina stepped down. At the same time, Hasina took refuge in India after leaving Bangladesh. The caretaker regime in Dhaka made sustained efforts to arrange a meeting between Yunus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month. However, Yunus had criticized India and also raised the issue of Sheikh Hasina’s extradition. The Indian side was unhappy with this and the two leaders could not meet.
Rehman was to become High Commissioner in 2022
Rahman, a career diplomat, was appointed High Commissioner to India in July 2022. Earlier he had served as Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and Ambassador to Switzerland and Singapore. He played an important role in taking forward development cooperation and building better relations between the two sides.
