India 'deeply concerned' at Bangladesh crisis: foreign minister

NEW DELHI: India’s foreign minister said on Tuesday he was “deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored” in neighbouring Bangladesh, a day after the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Foreign minister S. Jaishankar also gave the first official confirmation Hasina was in India, where she fled on Monday as protesters stormed her palace.

“We… will naturally remain deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored,” Jaishankar told parliament.

New Delhi has kept a wary eye on the fall of Hasina, who pursued a delicate balancing act of enjoying support from India while maintaining strong relations with China.

“In the last 24 hours, we have also been in regular touch with the authorities in Dhaka,” Jaishankar said.

Hasina fled by helicopter to India, arriving at a military airbase near New Delhi.

A top-level source said she wanted to go on to London but calls by the British government for a UN-led investigation into “unprecedented levels of violence” put that in doubt.

“Our understanding is that after a meeting with leaders of the security establishment, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina apparently made the decision to resign,” Jaishankar said.

“At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India. We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from the Bangladesh authorities. She arrived yesterday evening in Delhi.”

India shares a border with Bangladesh of more than 4,000 kilometres (2,485 miles).

“Our border guarding forces have also been instructed to be exceptionally alert in view of this complex situation,” Jaishankar said.

Hasina’s dramatic ouster also sparked concern in Sri Lanka, where it was seen as duplicating the turmoil that toppled Colombo’s leader in 2022.

Sri Lanka said on Tuesday it hoped Bangladesh would restore democracy.

“We also faced a similar danger to our democracy, but we protected our parliament,” government spokesman Bandula Gunawardana told reporters in Colombo.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Ali Sabry wished Bangladeshis the “strength to overcome these challenges and emerge even stronger”.

“We look forward to a future filled with peace and prosperity for both our nations,” Sabry said on social media platform X.

Sri Lankan media also highlighted parallels with then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing Colombo in July 2022.

Social media users shared photos of protesters ransacking Rajapaksa’s official residence alongside Bangladeshi protesters storming Hasina’s palace on Monday.