In a damage control exercise, India on Saturday said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks about a section of the Bangladeshi people being under the influence of ISI (Pakistan's intelligence agency) were by 'no means intended to be judgemental'.
'Our attention has been drawn to some off-the-record remarks attributed to the prime minister during his interaction with editors in New Delhi. It is clarified in this regard that these attributed remarks were by no means intended to be judgemental,' said the Indian High Commission (IHC) in Dhaka in a press release on Saturday.
This attempt at clarification was necessary for many reasons, not the least of which is that several Indian dignitaries, including
Manmohan Singh and Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi, are expected to visit Dhaka by September this year.
The IHC also said in the release that India 'is committed to the non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. In recent years, ties between India and Bangladesh have seen exceptional heights with close cooperation in a wide range of areas'.
During an interaction with five select print media editors last week, Singh was asked by a senior editor to comment on the situation in the neighbourhood of India.
Singh reportedly admitted that he was worried about the situation in the neighbourhood. 'Well, our neighbourhood worries me a great deal, quite frankly.'
'…with Bangladesh, our relations are quite good. But we must reckon that at least 25 per cent of the population of Bangladesh swears by the Jamiat-ul-Islami (sic) and they are very anti-Indian, and they are in the clutches, many times, of the ISI…' Singh had told the editors.
'So, the political landscape in Bangladesh can change at any time,' added Singh.
'The prime minister's remark was off-the-record. We put it out by mistake. It has been corrected now.' Singh's media advisor Harish Khare was quoted by Indian Express newspaper on Saturday.
But only Singh's remarks on Bangladesh were deleted in the corrected transcript posted on the PMO website, while all his other comments were retained.
When asked whether there was any official statement from the Bangladesh government, the director general of the external publicity wing of the foreign affairs ministry, M Shamim Ahsan, told New Age on Saturday evening, 'Nothing'.
However, the remarks have sparked off negative reactions in Bangladesh with leaders of the ruling Awami League and opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami criticising Singh for his remarks.
Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury, who is also presidium member of the Awami League, on Friday said that Singh's 'comments seem to be out of context'.
Morshed Khan, former foreign minister of the BNP-led government, said, 'Such comments from a person like Manmohan Singh are frustrating for Bangladesh'.
Jamaat-e-Islami's acting secretary general ATM Azharul Islam also condemned Manmohan for the controversial remarks.
India's external affairs minister SM Krishna is scheduled to reach Dhaka on Wednesday on a three-day official visit.
Sonia Gandhi, president of India's ruling Congress Party, is also expected to be in Dhaka on July 25 to attend a special conference on autistic children.
India's water resources minister Salman Khurshid may also visit Dhaka soon for a meeting with his counterpart Ramesh Chandra Sen to give the final touches to an interim agreement on the sharing of Teesta's water.
Source : New Age
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