India does not endorse Hasina's statements: Vikram Misri

India does not endorse ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's criticism of the interim government in Bangladesh, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said yesterday (11 December).

The issue remains a pinprick in the India-Bangladesh relationship, he also said while briefing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, reports The Hindu.

The Indian foreign secretary said India's relationship with Bangladesh was not limited to a "single political party" or a government but focused on the "people of Bangladesh".

"Hasina was using private communication devices to make her comments and that the Government of India was not involved in providing her with any platform or facility that enabled her to carry out her political activity from Indian soil," The Hindu reported quoting Misri.

This, he said, was part of India's traditional practice of avoiding interference in third countries.

Hasina fled the country on 5 August in the face of a mass uprising right before thousands stormed her official residence in Dhaka. A week later on 13 August, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in his verified Facebook profile published a statement from her.

In the statement Hasina called on the countrymen to observe the National Day of Mourning on 15 August, the death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  

She said many fresh lives have been lost due to sabotage, arson terrorism and violence in the name of the movement since July last.

Later on 28 November, the Awami League's Facebook page published a statement by Hasina, where she condemned the interim government over alleged attacks on the Hindu community following the arrest of former Iskcon leader Chinmoy Krishna Das.

On 8 December, Hasina virtually addressed a gathering of overseas Awami League supporters in London, and vowed to bring Yunus and his allies to justice under Bangladeshi law.

The interim government in Bangladesh has frequently called upon India to stop publicising Hasina's "inflammatory" comments. 

On 5 December, the International Crimes Tribunal banned publishing Hasina's hate speech on all media.

Meanwhile, Misri briefed the Indian parliamentary committee after his recent visit to Dhaka on Monday (9 December) where he held a high-profile meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Jasim Uddin. His visit to Dhaka came as the two countries have been embroiled in a bitter war of words. It was the first foreign secretary-level meeting between New Delhi and Dhaka after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5 following massive protests against her government.

Briefing the parliamentary committee about his visit, Misri described Bangladesh as the largest partner in trade and connectivity in South Asia and said that in recent years the two sides had built rail links, bus links, and inland waterways.

He, however, informed the committee that passenger rail services between the two countries remained "suspended".

He said India was concerned about the lack of acknowledgement of the alleged incidents of violence against minority communities but welcomed the latest report that authorities in Bangladesh had arrested 88 persons related to the violence against minority communities after the fall of the Hasina government. The Indian foreign secretary, according to sources, also said there had been tangible improvement in the relationship after his visit to Dhaka.

At the briefing, Misri said he had told Bangladesh authorities that their decision to release many of the "convicted terrorists" who are indulging in anti-India rhetoric, remained an issue of deep concern for India.

The Bangladesh authorities, meanwhile, flagged the disinformation campaign in the Indian press about the events unfolding in that country.

Many committee members, meanwhile raised the issue of the alleged arrest of Iskcon monks in Bangladesh, but "no reply, as per the sources, was forthcoming from Mr. Misri on the issue," reports The Hindu.