Hasina-Modi talks in New York: Bangladesh doesn't see NRC as problem

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will discuss all the "problems" in the bilateral relations in New York meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

But he said the government does not see the Assam's citizenship exercise or NRC as a "problem".

"It's an internal matter of India," he reiterated, "But there are concerns in Bangladesh".

The foreign minister was briefing media on Wednesday about the visit.

The meeting in New York will be held a week before their bilateral meeting in New Delhi on October 5 when Hasina will be on an official visit to India.

Asked whether they will discuss NRC issue in the New York meeting, the foreign minister said the prime minister will raise "all the problems" in New York, and details will be discussed there.

Asked whether the government considers NRC as a problem, he replied, "We don't consider it as a problem. It's an internal matter of India".

"But many in Bangladesh have expressed their concerns," he said.

The foreign minister earlier said he is not worried about the NRC where nearly 2 million people have been left off a citizens’ list.

Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also conveyed to him that it’s an “internal matter” of India.

Bangladesh will not face any problem, Momen had said citing Jaishankar.

India's northeastern state of Assam, after a mammoth years-long exercise to check illegal immigration from neighbouring Muslim-majority Bangladesh, released the list earlier on Saturday with 1.9 million people excluded.

There are concerns in Bangladesh about Assam’s NRC as many fears those finally deemed illegal after on completion of the appeal process might be pushed into Bangladesh which is grappling with the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Bangladesh and India are currently enjoying the best of relations.

Over 100 agreements have been signed in the last 10 years, 68 of which were concluded in the last three years alone.

The decades-old land boundary and maritime issues have been solved, but the equitable share of the Teesta river water remains unresolved.