India is seeking “neighborliness” in South Asia and believes its growth will benefit the entire region, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has said.
Jaishankar’s comments come amid diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh, which is holding a general election next month.
“If India grows, all our neighbors will grow with us. They will have many more opportunities,” the minister said on Friday.
“I think that, in a sense, is the message I also took to Bangladesh,” he added. “They are right now heading for an election. We wished them well. We hope as things settle down, this sense of neighborliness in this region will grow.”
Jaishankar was in Dhaka earlier this week to pay homage to Begum Khaleda Zia, the former prime minister, who passed away on December 30.
Bangladesh has seen a wave of violence prompted by the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi, one of the most prominent leaders of the 2024 uprising. Hadi was shot by masked assailants in Dhaka earlier this month.
Following his death, protesters took to the streets throughout the country, demanding the arrest of the assailants, chanting anti-India slogans, and rioting.
They attacked and set fire to the offices of two prominent newspapers. Mobs in the country have also been accused of targeting the country’s Hindu minority.
India has condemned the recent violence in Bangladesh and said it was the responsibility of the interim government to maintain law and order.
Bangladesh’s next national election will be held on February 12. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, which had been in power for 15 years before the uprising, has been barred from participating in the polls.
A court has sentenced Hasina to death in a crimes against humanity case for ordering a violent crackdown on protestors in the 2024 uprising that led to her government’s ouster. She now lives in exile in India.
Dhaka has repeatedly called for the extradition of Hasina, accusing India of supporting interests inimical to Bangladesh. New Delhi has affirmed it has never allowed its territory to be used for activities against its eastern neighbor.