Keeping a close watch on Bangladesh situation: Centre at all-party meet

New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar chaired on Tuesday an all-party meeting on the situation in violence-struck Bangladesh, during which he said that India is keeping a close watch on the developments in the neighbouring country.

EAM Jaishankar informed all the political parties about the safety of Indian nationals residing there and about the steps taken by the Union government.

“Briefed an All-Party meeting in Parliament today about the ongoing developments in Bangladesh. Appreciate the unanimous support and understanding that was extended,” the EAM said in a post on social media platform X.

The government informed that around 20,000 Indians are in Bangladesh, most of whom were students, of which around 8,000 have returned to their homeland following an advisory released by India, sources quoted EAM Jaishankar as saying.

The EAM also said that the government is in touch with the Bangladesh Army, and the situation there is constantly changing, and as the changes happen, the government will again give information about it.

Additionally, sources suggest that nothing has been decided on former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s future plans, and it was suggested that she should be given some time to decide where she wants to go.

Besides EAM Jaishankar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju participated in the meeting.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, T. R. Balu from DMK, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, BJD leader Sasmit Patra, along with other floor leaders of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, were present at the meeting.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting at his official residence, during which he was briefed about the entire crisis in the neighbouring nation.

On Monday, Hasina landed at the Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad hours after resigning as the country’s Prime Minister and leaving Dhaka en route to Delhi.

Hasina arrived in India in a military transport plane of Bangladesh Air Force as thousands of protesters stormed and vandalised ‘Ganabhaban’ – the official residence of the Prime Minister in Dhaka.

It was reported that over 100 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the clashes that took place between police and the protesters on Sunday.

The student-led non-cooperation movement put immense pressure on Hasina’s government over the past few weeks.

The students had been protesting against a 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters who wrested independence for Bangladesh from Pakistan in a bloody civil war in 1971 in which, according to Dhaka officials, three million people were killed in the genocide by Pakistani troops and their supporters.

–IANS

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