
Bangladesh: India discusses with the US the new developments
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said he had a brief discussion on the current situation in Bangladesh with newly-appointed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
“Yes, we had a brief discussion on Bangladesh. I don’t think it’s appropriate that I get into more details,” Dr. Jaishankar told a group of Indian reporters at a news conference in Washington, the media reported on Thursday.
The minister was responding to a query on whether the treatment of minorities in Bangladesh came up during his meetings with Rubio and Waltz.
However, there was no discussion on the attacks on Indian consulates in the US or the threat to Indian diplomats there, he said.
“I didn’t raise those issues on this occasion,” he said.
“But I do want to say that the attack on our consulate in San Francisco is a very, very serious matter. It is something for which we expect accountability, and we would like to see that people who did it are held responsible,” Dr. Jaishankar said.
Asked about the two recent cases — one against a former Indian official and another against an Indian business tycoon — which have come up in US courts in the last two years, he added, “No, the subject didn’t come up (during the meetings).”