Prime minister’s adviser on information and broadcasting Zahed Ur Rahman on Tuesday said that he decided not to enter India and instead returned to Bangladesh in an instant protest against the incident at Delhi airport, where he had to wait about two and a half hours for immigration clearance.
‘I did not go there as an individual. I went as a representative of this government and this state. What happened to me required an immediate protest from our side, and that is why I decided to return,’ he said.
The adviser made the remarks while responding to questions at a press briefing at the Press Information Department at the secretariat in the capital Dhaka.
Zahed said that although India should take care to prevent such incidents, the episode should not affect bilateral engagement between the two countries.
The adviser travelled to New Delhi on Sunday to attend a two-day meeting of senior officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, which began on Monday.
He was initially denied entry and kept waiting for nearly two and a half hours at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Although Indian authorities later granted him permission to enter the country following higher-level intervention, Zahed declined to do so and returned to Dhaka.
Referring to the incident, Zahed said that reports published in Bangladeshi and Indian media accurately reflected what had happened.
‘As an adviser to the prime minister, I felt that there needed to be a clear signal from the state and the government,’ he said.
Zahed said that his decision was not intended to create any negative or retaliatory situation but to convey a message that the current government had received a mandate from the people and should be treated accordingly.
He said that Bangladesh sought constructive relations with all countries and did not want hostility with any nation.
‘This government will not pursue relations with any country in a way that compromises the country’s dignity and self-respect or harms Bangladesh’s interests,’ he said.
‘The government will decide the extent of its response, but I expect that this incident will not affect future engagement between the two countries,’ he added.
Responding to questions about his passport, Zahed said, ‘The first thing is that I have not yet taken a diplomatic passport. Not for any particular reason — I simply have not completed the process yet. My passport carries a SAARC sticker, which should make it function effectively in the same way as a diplomatic passport.’
‘So if some people are suggesting that because I do not have a diplomatic passport my foreign travel should stop, that is not the case. I am not obliged to take a diplomatic passport. It is a privilege that I may choose to accept, but I am not required to do so,’ he said.
He said that the passport was not the reason for the incident; there were other reasons.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday summoned Indian deputy high commissioner to Bangladesh Pawan Badhe over the incident.
Bangladesh foreign minister Khalilur Rahman, while talking to journalists on Monday, described the incident as ‘unexpected and unfortunate’ and said that his ministry was taking ‘appropriate measures’ regarding the matter.
According to Indian media reports, the complication arose because Zahed’s name remained on an Indian security watch list.
Although his name had reportedly been removed from a social media-related blacklist earlier, it allegedly remained on the immigration watch list, triggering an alert upon his arrival.
After the discrepancy was identified and resolved, Indian officials reportedly granted him permission to enter India, but he returned home, travelling from New Delhi to Colombo and then to Dhaka on Monday.
Asked whether he would visit India again in the future, he replied, ‘Certainly.’
‘I will definitely go if I receive a proper invitation. I want to engage with India logically and rationally,’ he added.
Editor: Nurul Kabir, Published by the Chairman, Editorial Board ASM Shahidullah Khan on behalf of Media New Age Ltd.
+8802-9632245-48
[email protected]
For Advertisement, Cell: +8801849 263831
Email: [email protected]
Leave a Reply