If Sheikh Hasina wishes to stay in India, govt likely to consider it favourably, says Former envoy

Sheikh Hasina. File Pic/PTI

Sheikh Hasina has been a "good friend of India" and if she wishes to stay on, the central government is likely to consider it "very favourably", a former high commissioner of India to Bangladesh said on Tuesday.

Hasina landed at the Hindon airbase near Delhi on Monday as part of her plan to go to London, hours after she resigned as the Bangladesh prime minister following weeks of anti-government protests that killed nearly 300 people.

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The embattled Bangladesh leader's plan to travel to London has hit a roadblock over some "uncertainties" and she is unlikely to move out of India for the next couple of days, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Veena Sikri, the former envoy, said India has "always helped" the people of Bangladesh in "all problems".

"Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League, the forces of Liberation, I am going back to 1971, they have always been friends with India. And, I am taking you to 1971...India, the Awami League and Muktijodha fought shoulder-to-shoulder for the liberation of Bangladesh.

"There has been a great empathy and understanding...mutual friendship, mutual respect and mutual understanding between the Awami League and India, between the people of Bangladesh and India. And, India has always helped them in all problems," Sikri told PTI.

"So, right now when Sheikh Hasina has been forced to leave her country, and she is now in India, if she wishes to stay in India, I am sure our government will consider it very favourably," Sikri added.

The veteran diplomat said Hasina has stayed in India before after the assassination of her father and Bangladesh independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who later became the country's prime minister. Rahman was assassinated in August 1975.

"She was in India for a long time, she was in India for many years and then she went back to Bangladesh and became a leader of the Awami League. This question whether she should stay or not, be left for a little while, to let her decide, let the situation evolve," Sikri said.

The former envoy further said "they know former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been a good friend of India. And, she has worked very closely with people of India, all across...with all the states, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya. So, I don't think there is any problem in that".

"If she should be staying, it is up to her right now. There is a news that she would like to go to London to stay with her sister, who lives in London. That is one aspect, maybe they are awaiting clearance from the government of the UK. All these issues are there, it is a very volatile and complex situation," she said.

"From my point of view, if she is staying on in India, there would be no major problem," she added.

Hasina, 76, resigned as prime minister of Bangladesh and left the country amid unprecedented mass protests against her government.

She later arrived in India on her way to London, diplomatic sources had said on Monday.

Asked if presence of Hasina in India will impact ties with the new dispensation that will come up, Sikri said that as far as other political parties are concerned, whether it is BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) or Jamaat-i-Islami Bangaldesh, "their views on India are well-known".

"But, it is not that we don't talk to them, we are in touch with all political parties, I myself have been there as a high commissioner. And, I was always in touch with all political groups.

"At that time, the BNP was in power. So, I was fully in touch with then Prime Minister... with all ministers of the government, Jamaat-i-Islami and also Awami League. Sheikh Hasina was the leader of opposition, but I was in touch with her too, closely in touch with her," she added.

"I think in any country, it is important to keep in touch with all political forces," the former envoy to Dhaka said.

Pankaj Saran, another veteran diplomat who served as envoy of India to Bangladesh from 2012-2015, on Monday told PTI, "I think it is clear that there are political forces who are using students' grievances as an opportunity to settle political scores." Sikri too has said that had it been purely a student movement, it would have "petered out" after the government responded to its demand. As the situation remains volatile, on India-Bangladesh ties, she said, "We will have to see how it develops".

"I am sure that the relationship between India and Bangladesh can continue to develop on the basis of mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual benefit and mutual sensitivities. We have to be aware of each other's interests," she added.

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