Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Saturday, 20 March, said that the country has made preparations to provide maximum security for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Dhaka later this week.
While addressing reporters at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Saturday, Momen said: “This is a democratic country and people have different opinions here. But we have no reason to worry about the security of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We will provide the maximum amount of security for him.”
“It is a matter of happiness for us that the head of the Indian government will go out of Dhaka. What would happen in West Bengal is not our concern,” the Minister replied when he was queried whether Modi was visiting the temples of a particular community of Gopalganj and Satkhira only to gain favour in the upcoming Assembly polls in the Indian state.
Modi is scheduled to visit Bangladesh from 26 to 27 March, to join the celebration of Bangabandhu's birth centenary and Bangladesh's Golden Jubilee of independence.
On Friday, the Indian Prime Minister is slated to visit the two temples, in Satkhira and Gopalganj and exchange views with the locals.
“Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina knows how to control the radicals and fundamentalists. The people of Bangladesh also know how to deal with those fundamentalists,” Momen told the journalists.
Not Worried About Fundamentalists' Opposition
He said the government is not worried about fundamentalists' opposition to the Indian premier's Bangladesh visit.
Also speaking at the press conference, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said: “Those who believe in the spirit of the Liberation War and consider Bangabandhu as the Father of the Nation should show honour to the visiting South Asian leaders. This is because the main reason behind their visit is Bangabandhu's birth centenary and the Golden Jubilee of Independent Bangladesh.”
“(Opposition) BNP tried to create noise after the BJP came to power (in India for the first time). They tried to complain to the BJP against the Awami League-led government. As those complaints were ignored by the BJP, the BNP changed its position later.”
Describing the opposition to Modi's visit as a political dilemma, Alam said: "BNP leader Zafarullah is doing his best to protest Modi's visit. He was a partner in BNP's big coalition election. He was one of the persons involved in the formation of a big coalition with BNP in the last national election."
In a warning to the radical outfit Hefazat-e-Islam, he said: “If you respect Bangladesh, you have to respect the state guests. Don't go to stop the visit of Narendra Modi.”
(Published in an arrangement with IANS.)
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