Friendship bid amid infiltration row
India has reiterated its desire to maintain positive and constructive relations with Bangladesh, but fresh remarks by its Union Home Minister Amit Shah accusing Congress of protecting alleged Bangladeshi infiltrators have added a new dimension to the diplomatic sensitivities between the two neighbouring countries.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi wanted to maintain a forward-looking relationship with Dhaka, even as questions over water-sharing, political developments and bilateral trade remain unresolved.
“We have said time and again from this platform that we want a positive, constructive and forward-looking relationship with Bangladesh,” Jaiswal said at the ministry’s biweekly media briefing in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Asked whether the India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) would meet to discuss the sharing of Ganges water, he said there was no update on the matter.
The 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty between the two countries is due to expire on 12 December, making its renewal a significant issue for bilateral relations.
Jaiswal also declined to comment on allegations by Rashed Khan, assistant political secretary to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, that Indian intelligence agencies were conspiring with the main opposition Jamaat-e-Islami to destabilise Bangladesh.
On the possibility of a visit to India by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the spokesperson said New Delhi had already extended an invitation.
“We have already invited him to visit India and, when there is an update, I will let you know,” he said.
Asked whether the ongoing garment workers’ protests in Bangladesh could affect bilateral trade, Jaiswal said, “We have been following all the developments.”
He gave a similar response when questioned about recent anti-India remarks by National Citizen Party (NCP) leaders at a rally in Dhaka.
The spokesperson did not directly answer whether India considered bilateral relations with Bangladesh normal or whether it perceived a pro-Pakistan shift in Dhaka’s foreign policy.
Meanwhile, India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah has accused the Congress of protecting illegal Bangladeshi immigrants by opposing the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Addressing a BJP rally in Hyderabad on Monday, Shah claimed that around three crore people flagged during the revision exercise were Bangladeshi infiltrators who had no legitimate place on India’s electoral rolls.
Rejecting Opposition allegations that nearly 13 crore voters had been removed, Shah said around 6.25 crore had shifted residence, three crore were deceased, one crore had duplicate entries and another three crore had no identifiable existence.
He accused the Congress and its allies of opposing the revision because undocumented migrants formed part of their vote bank.
“Only the citizens of this country are entitled to vote,” Shah said, vowing to remove infiltrators from electoral rolls and deport them.
However, the Election Commission’s draft-stage data classified around 3.01 crore entries as belonging to voters who were absent or untraceable.
The commission has not identified all of them as Bangladeshi nationals, and the figures remain subject to claims and objections.
Shah’s remarks came a day after the Opposition INDIA bloc held a rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan protesting alleged electoral irregularities and the SIR exercise.
He also challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to a parliamentary debate on the revision exercise, alleged infiltrators and electronic voting machines.
The contrasting developments come at a sensitive time for Bangladesh-India relations, with the impending expiry of the Ganges water-sharing treaty, high-level political engagement and trade concerns adding to the bilateral agenda.
While New Delhi has publicly expressed its willingness to strengthen ties, political rhetoric surrounding alleged Bangladeshi infiltration continues to remain a sensitive issue in the relationship.
