After Hasina was overthrown, India ceased granting visas to Bangladeshis, with the exception of emergency medical visas.
In the capital of Bangladesh, the foreign secretaries of India and Bangladesh convened to talk about the escalating tensions between the two countries, particularly after Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, escaped into exile in India in August.
The recent arrest of a Hindu leader in Bangladesh by Muhammad Yunus’s temporary government has heightened tensions.
The discussions were anticipated to focus heavily on alleged attacks on Bangladesh’s minority Hindu population and on a Bangladeshi diplomatic presence in India.
The day-long discussions between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Mohammad Jashim Uddin, were the first high-level visit by an Indian official since Hasina’s 15-year administration was overthrown by widespread demonstrations.
In response to the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Das Prabhu, who had organized sizable rallies calling for improved security for Hindus in previous months, Hindus recently stormed a Bangladeshi diplomatic mission in Agartala, the capital of the state of Tripura in northeastern India.
The Yunus-led government protested after Hindu demonstrators destroyed Bangladeshi flags in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, an eastern Indian state, late last month.
