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Secretaries of foreign affairs Bangladesh and India met in Dhaka on Monday to discuss relations between the neighbors, including rising tensions since the fall of former prime minister Sheikh Hasinawho fled into exile in India in August.
Tensions have risen over the recent arrest of a Hindu priest in Bangladesh under the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Alleged attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh and on Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission in India are expected to feature prominently in the talks. India stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshis except for emergency medical visas after Ms Hasina’s ouster.
Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misra held day-long talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin in the first visit by a high-level Indian official since mass protests ended Ms Hasina’s 15-year rule.
Ms Hasina is seen as a staunch friend of Hindu-majority India, who has sparked concern over allegations of attacks on religious minorities, particularly Hindus, in Muslim-majority Bangladesh since her ouster.
Most Bangladeshi Hindus are thought to support Ms Hasina’s secular Awami League party.
A Hindu mob recently attacked Bangladesh’s diplomatic office in Agartala, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Tripura, in response to the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Das Prabhu, who has led large rallies in recent months demanding better security for Hindus in Bangladesh. Late last month, Hindu protesters also burned Bangladeshi flags in Kolkata, the capital of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, prompting protests from the Yunus government.
Other political parties, including Nationalist Party of Bangladesh led by Khaled Zia, Ms Hasina’s main political foe, and Islamist groups protested the attack in Tripura.
Hindus also protested in parts of India against the alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and the imprisonment of Prabhu.
Mr Misra will pay courtesy calls on Mr Yunus and Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain before leaving for New Delhi later on Monday.