Bangladesh parliamentary committee holds closed-door meeting on ties with India, China

The parliamentary standing committee on the foreign ministry has held a closed-door meeting on the challenges of developing Bangladesh’s ties with India, China and other neighbouring countries.

The committee discussed the other agendas before closing the door at the parliament in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Committee Chairman Muhammad Faruk Khan, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, among others, attended the meeting.

The committee had in a meeting in August decided to hold the closed-door meeting. It had asked why Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s Dhaka visit was being called an unofficial one.

The ministry had informed the committee that such visits can take place without a schedule.

The visit’s main objective was to convey a message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the ministry said.

The visit amid China-related reports over India-Bangladesh ties was widely discussed.

Khan had said Shringla and Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen had also discussed the reports.

“They Indian side said they are also thinking about the matter, but they cannot do anything about reports published in the media,” the committee chairman had said.

The parliamentary standing committees’ meetings are closed-door ones as per parliament’s rules of procedure.

Asked why he was calling the next meeting “closed-door”, Khan had said, “Many from outside the committee usually attend meetings. But we will allow selected people in the next meeting.”