India on Thursday spoke of its unique relation with Bangladesh, in response to Pakistan raising the Kashmir issue with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
In the weekly press briefing, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said India appreciates Bangladesh’s position which regards Kashmir as an ‘internal’ matter of India.
“Our ties are time tested and historic. We appreciate Bangladesh’s stance that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter,” said Mr. Srivastava.
The response came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan raised the future of Kashmir issue with Ms. Hasina.
“India and Bangladesh are celebrating the centenary event ‘Mujib barsho’ this year in memory of the founder of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” said Mr. Srivastava highlighting the role of Sheikh Mujib who led the anti-Pakistan freedom struggle till the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Pandemic preparedness
On Wednesday, Miss Hasina received a phone call from Mr. Khan and the two leaders discussed the COVID-19 scenario in both the countries. Bangladesh official news agency said Mr. Khan discussed the pandemic preparedness with Ms. Hasina.
However, the Pakistani official news agency claimed that Mr. Khan had also sought ‘peaceful’ resolution of the Kashmir issue for the prosperity of the region.
The phone conversion is being interpreted as significant as it came weeks after the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry had hosted High Commissioner of Pakistan Imran Ahmed Siddiqui as Dhaka intensified anti-COVID-19 collaboration with Beijing, the traditional supporter of Islamabad.
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