Bangladesh’s interim government has recalled five key diplomats, including the ambassador to India, as part of a significant diplomatic reshuffle, a foreign ministry official revealed on Thursday.
The recall follows major political upheaval in the country, with Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus leading the new interim administration. The reshuffle comes after weeks of violent protests forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign on August 5 and seek refuge in India.
The diplomats affected by the reshuffle include those stationed in Brussels, Canberra, Lisbon, New Delhi, and Bangladesh’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York. They have been instructed to hand over their duties and return to Dhaka immediately, the official said, speaking anonymously.
This move comes after the earlier recall of Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom.
The recalled diplomats include Mustafizur Rahman, Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to India; Mahbub Hassan Saleh, Ambassador to Belgium; M. Allama Siddiqui, High Commissioner to Australia; Rezina Ahmed, Ambassador to Portugal; and Muhammad Abdul Muhith, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
The political changes in Bangladesh, which resulted in over 700 deaths during the student-led movement that ousted Hasina, have strained the country’s relations with India. Bangladesh and India share a 4,000-kilometre border and maritime boundaries in the Bay of Bengal.
Amid the political shifts, there have also been allegations of attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh, though the government has maintained that the violence was politically, not religiously, motivated.
