Bangladesh calls India's explanation on adviser airport stop unsatisfactory

Bangladesh has rejected India's explanation after adviser Zahed Ur Rahman was stopped at Delhi airport. The episode has deepened diplomatic unease despite Dhaka's prior intimation about his official role.

In Short

• Dhaka said diplomatic channels had cleared Rahman's role before the Delhi meeting
• India said immigration officials questioned him because he carried a private passport
• After reconfirmation, authorities permitted entry, but Rahman returned to Dhaka voluntarily

Bangladesh on Wednesday termed New Delhi's explanation for an incident involving Prime Minister's Adviser for Information and Strategy Zahed Ur Rahman at Indira Gandhi International Airport as "unsatisfactory". Dhaka's response came a day after India's Ministry of External Affairs said Rahman was allowed entry after his visit purpose was reconfirmed, but he chose to return to Dhaka.

Calling the episode "unfortunate and regrettable", a Bangladeshi foreign ministry spokesperson said Indian authorities had been informed in advance through diplomatic channels that Rahman would lead the Bangladesh delegation to a meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association.

"The explanation provided by the Indian side over the incident was not satisfactory," the state-run BSS news agency reported, quoting the spokesperson. BSS said Rahman had been scheduled to lead the Bangladesh delegation before being stopped from proceeding through Delhi airport earlier this month.

Bangladesh had earlier lodged a protest with India after Rahman was briefly stopped by immigration officials at the airport in New Delhi over a week ago, as his name apparently figured in a security-related blacklist.

At his weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "Advisor to the prime minister of Bangladesh arrived in India on June 14 on a private passport holding a SAARC visa, to attend the 28th Meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association." Jaiswal said Rahman was questioned by immigration officials at Delhi airport and was later permitted entry after "re-confirming that the purpose of his visit was to attend the said multilateral meeting". "He (Rahman), however, chose to return to Dhaka of his own volition," Jaiswal added.

The Ministry of External Affairs hosted the 28th meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association in New Delhi on June 15 and 16. The incident has since drawn a formal protest from Dhaka, which maintains that India had been informed in advance about Rahman's role in the meeting.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends