SOURCE: AFP
Bangladeshi Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain today said that he was more surprised than being concerned by the statement made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. “I have become more surprised than being concerned by the statement,” he told reporters at the foreign ministry today.
At an event in Lucknow on September 5, Singh said India’s armed forces need to be prepared for war in order to preserve peace. Rajnath asked the country’s top military leadership to analyse the current situation in Bangladesh and the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, predict problems that India may face in the future and stay prepared to deal with the “unexpected”.
In this regard, Touhid Hossain said, “We need to understand if he made the statement for domestic consumption. Also, the way he spoke is like beating about the bush. I do not see any ground for India to be prepared for a war due to the Ukraine war. How the problems with Hamas are relevant here, and how Bangladesh can be compared with the Ukraine and Hamas issues – I do not understand it.”
Asked if the Indian minister’s statement is a type of threat to Bangladesh, the adviser said, “I still believe that he made the statement for domestic consumption. Therefore, I am unwilling to make any assumption. We will surely see what is taking place and why.”