New Delhi, Aug 20: New Delhi on Wednesday rejected allegations from Bangladesh that the Awami League was running offices in India, calling the charge “misplaced” and reiterating that no political activity against foreign countries is permitted on Indian soil.
Earlier in the day, the Interim Government of Bangladesh claimed that Awami League-linked offices had been set up in New Delhi and Kolkata and urged India to close them down. Dhaka alleged that such activity by “absconding leaders and activists of a banned political party” amounted to an “affront against the people and State of Bangladesh.”
Responding to media queries, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “The Government of India is not aware of any anti-Bangladesh activities by purported members of the Awami League in India or of any action that is contrary to Indian law. The Government does not allow political activities against other countries to be carried out from Indian soil. The Press Statement by the Interim Government of Bangladesh is thus misplaced. India reiterates its expectation that free, fair and inclusive elections will be held at the earliest in Bangladesh to ascertain the will and mandate of the people.”
The sharp exchange comes amid already strained ties between the two neighbours. Bangladesh’s interim authorities have in recent weeks accused exiled political groups of attempting to mobilise across the border, while India has grown concerned about instability in Dhaka ahead of elections.
The row also carries a layer of irony, as Bangladesh itself has often been accused in the past of providing shelter to anti-India groups. For decades, insurgent outfits from India’s Northeast were reported to have operated training camps inside Bangladeshi territory, while Islamist networks such as HuJI-B were linked to terror plots in India. Despite longstanding cultural and economic ties, relations between New Delhi and Dhaka remain unsettled, with mutual suspicion compounding the uncertainty surrounding Bangladesh’s domestic political transition.
