Bangladesh, which is home to over a million Rohingya refugees, has sought India’s cooperation to peacefully repatriate people who were forced to seek refuge in the country to avoid persecution in Myanmar, officials said on Monday.
Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury asked India for help when Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pranay Kumar Verma visited her at the Sangsad Bhaban (House of Parliament) on Sunday.
“The speaker told the envoy that Bangladesh had given refuge to this large number of Rohingyas and pointed out that India also gave refuge to Bangladeshis during our liberation war in 1971 and people remember this episode with respect,” said a spokesman for the Secretariat of Jatiya Sangsad said.
Chaudhury, he said, was seeking Indian support for the peaceful repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, from which they fled to avoid ruthless persecution under a military crackdown in 2017.
Over a million Rohingyas have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since a military crackdown began there in August 2017 to evict a predominantly Muslim ethnic group from their home in Rakhine state. They now live in sprawling makeshift refugee camps.
Bangladesh and Myanmar have held talks on repatriating displaced Rohingya refugees but have been unable to resolve the issue.
India has stated in the past that it wants safe and sustainable Rohingya repatriation.
Bangladesh also previously sought India’s help to persuade Myanmar authorities to take back its people, while officials said since the military takeover, Dhaka has been trying to negotiate with the junta, with support from China, which is believed to be that it has good relations with the authorities in Naypyidaw.
During the meeting at the Speaker’s office in the Parliament Complex, the Speaker and the Indian envoy also discussed issues related to friendly relations between the two countries, trade promotion, energy cooperation, climate change and women’s empowerment.
The spokesman said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid the foundation for the historic relationship between the two countries with their wisdom.
The High Commissioner said the two countries’ socio-economic conditions would continue to improve so that they could face global challenges together.
Verma, who arrived in Dhaka on September 21, presented his credentials to President Abdul Hamid on October 27. On November 30, he visited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He also visited Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen and hosted a reception to celebrate the 51st anniversary of Maitree Diwas.
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