BIG BREAKING, Bangladesh recalls envoy from India, few other countries
Bangladesh's interim government has issued directives to recall key envoys from several important diplomatic posts, including the high commissioner to India, according to sources on Wednesday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the envoys to return to Dhaka immediately, which has caused discontent within the country’s foreign service. Many of those recalled, such as High Commissioner Mustafizur Rahman, were career diplomats rather than political appointees.
Besides Rahman, the envoys recalled include the permanent representative to the UN in New York, and the ambassadors to Australia, Belgium, and Portugal. Some of these diplomats were approaching retirement, raising further questions about the timing of the decision.
This reshuffle comes amid strained relations between Bangladesh and India following the ousting of Sheikh Hasina’s administration in August due to widespread protests. A caretaker government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, took office shortly after Hasina fled to India.
Efforts by the interim government to arrange a meeting between Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the UN General Assembly were unsuccessful, partly due to Yunus' comments critical of India and the potential extradition of Hasina.
Mustafizur Rahman, who took up his post as high commissioner to India in July 2022, had previously served as Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva and as ambassador to Switzerland and Singapore. He was instrumental in enhancing development cooperation and strengthening ties between Bangladesh and India.
Relations between the two countries have been fragile since Hasina's departure, with Bangladesh’s minority Hindu community alleging targeted attacks, which the interim government insists were politically, not religiously, motivated.