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Journalism of Courage
Seeking to assuage concerns of Bangladesh regarding the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Monday said the exercise would have no implications on the people of the country. Shringla, who was speaking at the ‘Bangladesh & India: A Promising Future’ seminar in Dhaka, also reiterated that the NRC process was entirely an internal matter of India.
“Let me clearly state here what our leadership has repeatedly confirmed at the highest level to the Government of Bangladesh: Updation of National Register of Citizens is a process that is entirely internal to India. Therefore there will be no implications for the government and people of Bangladesh. You have our assurance on that count,” Shringla said.
Shringla’s trip is the first high-level visit to Bangladesh since the CAA-NRC issue introduced strains in an otherwise robust bilateral relationship.
Shringla’s main task will be related to laying the groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely visit to Bangladesh for the birth centenary celebrations of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s father and Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The event is expected to be held on March 17 — the Bangabandhu’s 100th birth anniversary — and is likely to be attended by, apart from Modi, former President Pranab Mukherjee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
In December, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan cancelled their visits to India after Parliament passed the CAA, sparking strong reactions in Dhaka. Both ministers cited scheduling commitments for not being able to visit.
In January, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NRC were an internal matter of India but at the same time said the legislation was “not necessary”. In an interview to Gulf News, she said, “We don’t understand why (the Indian government) did it. It was not necessary”.
“Bangladesh has always maintained that the CAA and NRC are internal matters of India. The Government of India, on their part, has also repeatedly maintained that the NRC is an internal exercise of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in person assured me of the same during my visit to New Delhi in October 2019,” she added.
Hasina also said that there has been no recorded reverse migration from India. “No, there is no reverse migration from India. But within India, people are facing many problems,” the Bangladeshi Prime Minister said.
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