Dhaka trusts New Delhi’s assurance

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen yesterday again ruled out any worry for Bangladesh over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) issue, saying that Bangladesh believes in India’s assurances.

“The NRC is an internal matter of India and it’ll in no way affect Bangladesh,” he told reporters after attending a function in the city, referring to India’s repeated commitments and assurances to Bangladesh.

When a reporter wanted to know about the entry of some people into Bangladesh from India, the minister said he was seeing some media reports, but did not know anything about it officially. “I don’t understand what’s the panic ... .”

He added that it would not be wise for him to make any comment unless he comes to know about it officially.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh detained 32 people on Sunday while entering Bangladesh from India through Doulatpur border in Jashore’s Benapole.

The detainees include 13 women and two children.

There are issues among neighbouring countries in other parts of the world, and there are some minor issues with India, but major ones were resolved in a very mature way, Momen said.

“Minor issues in the process will go away.”

In September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina that the NRC in India would have no impact on Bangladesh, and there was no need to worry.

In August, India published the final citizenship list in Assam, excluding nearly two million people amid fears they could be rendered stateless, reports AP.

The list, known as the National Register of Citizens, intends to identify legal residents and weed out illegal immigrants from the state.

Around 31.1 million people were included in the list, leaving out 1.9 million people, according to a statement from the Assam government.