A file photo of Bangladesh's deputy foreign minister Shahriar Alam (right)
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry on Saturday termed the reports linking the cancellation of deputy foreign minister Shahriar Alam to the ongoing protests against the new Citizenship Act as “misleading.”
The cancellation of the visit of Alam, reported in sections of the media on Saturday, has been attributed to the ongoing row over the recent changes to the Citizenship Act.
Several news websites drew an invidious connection between the visit cancellation and the protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act, which have rocked parts of the north-east lying next to India’s border with Bangladesh.
Clearing the air over these speculations, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said in a statement that no bilateral agreement had been in place which required the participation of Alam at Raisina Dialogue.
Alam was slated to address one of the events at the annual foreign policy event, jointly organised by New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“The Ministry would like to convey that State Minister Md Shahriar Alam was invited as a speaker in the Raisina Dialogue which coincides with his visit to UAE to accompany the Prime Minister of Bangladesh,” said Bangladesh’s foreign affairs’ ministry.
“It may be noted that there was no bilateral engagement scheduled during the visit. The inability of his participation has no other connection,” the statement from Bangladesh added.
