He made this statement in an opinion column published in the Indian media outlet The Indian Express.
- This opinion column by the Foreign Affairs Advisor was published in The Indian Express on Thursday.
- In the column, he mentioned, 'Bangladesh wants an effective and positive relationship with India based on mutual respect.' He expressed hope that India would also agree to this wish of Bangladesh.
- The Awami League government was overthrown in a student-public uprising in July-August 2024. After that, India-Bangladesh relations reached a critical juncture.
- However, the advisor stressed the need to work shoulder to shoulder to protect the interests of the people of both countries. He and Principal Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus are keen to take the India-Bangladesh bilateral relations further. He also spoke about harnessing the positive aspects of the relationship by resolving areas of misunderstanding and instability.
Noting that the trend of mutual cooperation with India has started since the birth of Bangladesh, Advisor Touhid hopes that the people of both countries will benefit from its continuation.
Advisor Touhid mentioned that there has been a lot of talk about allegations of torture against Bangladeshi Hindus in India.
However, he claimed that the law and order situation in the country was not fully under control during the power vacuum from the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, 2024 until the interim government took power, which resulted in some unwanted incidents.
Touhid further claimed that all those affected were beneficiaries of the previous government and most of them were Muslims. After taking power, the interim government took strict action against those responsible for these crimes. Even the people of the country bravely came forward to protect the Hindus, their families and temples.
Despite this, "unfortunately, the Indian media and cyberspace continue to create a negative atmosphere by publishing grossly exaggerated and often completely false information," he added.
