Amid political unrest in Bangladesh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that there are an estimated 19,000 Indian nationals of which about 9000 are students while ensuring the country that the government is in close contact with the Indian community in Dhaka.
Jaishankar informed the Lok Sabha that the bulk of the students returned to India in July. ‘We are in close and continuous touch with the Indian community in Bangladesh through our diplomatic missions. There are an estimated 19,000 Indian nationals there of which about 9000 are students. The bulk of the students returned in July’, he said.
He also said that Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested approval from India to come at very short notice and she arrived on the evening of Monday.
‘On August 5, demonstrators converged in Dhaka despite the curfew. Our understanding is that after a meeting with leaders of the security establishment, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina apparently made the decision to resign. At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India. We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from Bangladesh authorities. She arrived yesterday evening in Delhi’, he said.
The External Affairs Minister also mentioned that the government is monitoring the situation with regard to the minorities living in Bangladesh.
Jaishankar noted that ties between India and Bangladesh are exceptionally close.
Since the election in January 2024, there has been considerable tensions, deep divides and growing polarization in Bangladesh politics and this underlying foundation aggravated a student agitation that started in June this year.
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