State minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Monday said that the government would take ‘necessary actions’ if any foreign diplomat in Bangladesh breached the diplomatic protocol.
‘We earlier reminded them of the diplomatic norms and rules in a similar situation. We will take necessary actions if they are again engaged in any such activities crossing their boundary,’ he said, responding to reporters’ questions at the ministry about foreign envoys’ meetings with opposition leaders and discussions on election issues.
The foreign ministry in July 2022 brought to the notice of all diplomatic entities in Bangladesh the necessity of maintaining the established diplomatic protocol of engagements with the government and private entities.
In a letter sent to all diplomatic missions and representatives of the United Nations and international organisations in Dhaka, the ministry reminded them of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 in this regard.
About the reported map of ‘Akhand Bharat’ depicted in a moral carved on a wall of the newly inaugurated parliament building of India, the state minister said that there was no reason for confusion about the map of the Undivided India dated 300 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
‘The issue came to our notice from the media, particularly social media. The map represents the era of emperor Ashoka of the ancient India, and it has nothing to do with politics. So, there is no reason for confusion about it. We have, however, sought a further clarification about it from our mission in Delhi,’ he said.
He said that the Bangladesh mission was also asked to get an official version of the Indian government on the matter.
On May 28, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the mural with the concept of Akhand Bharat, meaning ‘undivided India,’ which refers to the idea of a undivided Indian subcontinent, encompassing present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.
Asked about a letter of six Congress members of the United States written to their president Joe Biden for facilitating free and fair national polls in Bangladesh, Shahriar said that they had collected a copy of the letter.
He said most of the information provided there was incorrect.
He said that they would reach out all of them and inform them of the Bangladesh government’s position on the issues they raised in the latter to the US president.
Shahriar said that all those going on was part of the propaganda against the ruling Awami League. Such propaganda would increase as the national election was nearing, he apprehended.
In a bid to give Bangladesh ‘the best chance for free and fair elections,’ six US Congress members have recently urged US president Biden for measures including stricter individual sanctions, banning its law enforcement and military personnel from participating in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
