Russia accuses US of interfering into BD’s internal affairs

Diplomatic Correspondent :
Russia accused the US under the pretext of caring about human rights of the Bangladeshi citizens of persistently trying to interfere in the internal affairs of the Bangladesh.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the reference during a briefing in Moscow on December 22 about the recent incident of American diplomat to Bangladesh Peter Haas who visited the residence of a ‘missing’ BNP leader in the city’s Shaheenbag area.
“We have noted the widely publicised incident with the US Ambassador in Dhaka, whose security was allegedly threatened by activists from a local public organisation who were against his meeting with the family of a supporter of an opposition political party on December 14, 2022 in Dhaka. In 2013, the supporter went missing,” she said in the briefing published on Russian Foreign Ministry website.
“This incident is an expected result of the activity of the American diplomat, who, under the pretext of caring about the rights of the citizens of Bangladesh was persistently trying to influence the domestic processes in the country,” she continued.
“As of late, his colleagues from the British and German diplomatic missions have been engaged in the same cause and have allowed themselves to openly give recommendations to the local authorities regarding transparency and inclusiveness in the parliamentary elections scheduled for next year,” the spokesperson said. She also said that such interference violate the basic principles of diplomatic relations.
“Such actions that violate the basic principles of non-interference  
in the domestic affairs of sovereign states are unacceptable,” she stressed.
About the nitty-gritty of diplomacy and diplomatic relations, she further said, “If anybody wants to ask: How about the terms “diplomat, immunity, embassy, security”? We always urge these things in accordance with international law and the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations. True, these are the basic principles.”
Russia also urged the US, the United Kingdom and other countries to care about and comment not only on cases of their own security, but also to support their colleagues when the countries and their representatives, including at international organisations, raise questions about the security of their embassies and consular facilities.
“They do not want to see or hear that terrorist attacks are being committed against embassies, consulates general, representatives of official governmental bodies, or that they receive threats. They do not care about this. At best, they remain silent and at worst, they justify those who do this,” she said.
She also said that when international terrorists committed a series of attacks against their embassy in Syria, they urged the Americans to respond to this through the UN Security Council.
“There can be no political justification for an unwillingness to publicly take a stand and use the common voice of the Security Council,” said the Russian ministry official.
The spokesperson said that Washington did not support their proposal on the council taking a clear stance on the protection of diplomats and condemning terrorist attacks at embassies and against diplomats.
“There cannot be any double standards, only a joint consolidated position,” she concluded.
When Peter Haas was in the home of missing BNP leader Sajedul Islam Sumon, his meeting was interrupted by a group of protesters named ‘Mayer Kanna’. He then quickly wrapped up his meeting and left the scene, what he claimed, feeling a sense of insecurity.
Peter informed the incident to the Foreign Ministry. The government of Bangladesh said that there was no security lapse to Peter Haas.
However, the matter did not end there, rather the US government expressed concerns over the issue.
When the matter was moving around in different circles of diplomatic landscape, the Russian Embassy in Bangladesh on December 20 issued a press release taking a stand against foreign interference in local political issue.
“Russia is committed to the principle of not interfering in domestic affairs of other countries,” the statement said.
Following such Russian statement, the next day US embassy in Dhaka posted a news article about Russia’s statement, with a caption that read: “Does this apply to Ukraine?”
The same day, the Russian embassy tweeted a cartoon with the caption: ‘The current state of affairs’, which depicted some birds sitting on different rungs on a pole, with national flags beside them.
On the top rung is a solitary bird next to a US flag, then two birds next to a UK flag, followed by six birds next to the EU flag, with four birds on the bottom next to a flag of Ukraine. After this Maria Zakharova herself made comments over the issue of Shaheenbag incident, saying it was foreign interference.