'Security issue': Bangladesh halts visa services in India; tensions high amid violence against minorities | India News

NEW DELHI: Bangladesh's interim government on Thursday announced that it has asked its key diplomatic missions in India, including the High Commission in New Delhi, to temporarily suspend visa services citing "security concerns"."What I have done is that I have asked our three missions (in India) to keep their visa sections closed for the time being. It's a security issue," Foreign affairs adviser M Touhid Hossain told reporters at a media briefing.The remarks came after Bangladesh's Deputy High Commission in Kolkata overnight restricted visa services, following similar steps taken earlier in New Delhi and Agartala.However, business and work visas have been kept outside the scope of the restrictions.

Bangladesh also has diplomatic missions in Mumbai and Chennai, where visa services continue to operate normally.Hossain also said Bangladesh has approached the United States seeking a reversal of a recently imposed visa bond requirement. Dhaka will pursue diplomatic channels to seek an exemption, calling the move "certainly unfortunate and painful for us," PTI reported.At the same time, he noted that the US decision was "not abnormal", as it was not applied only to Bangladesh and several other countries were facing similar immigration-related measures.

Ties between Dhaka and New Delhi have remained strained since the Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in violent, student-led protests in July–August 2024. Relations have since hit another roadblock following the killing of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi in Dhaka, which triggered anti-India protests. Hadi, a prominent figure in last year's July uprising, was killed amid rising political tensions, sparking widespread unrest. Protests also broke out after the killing of Dipu Chandra Das, a young Hindu factory worker who was lynched in Mymensingh after being falsely accused of religious defamation.Hindu religious organisations and minority rights groups held a protest outside the National Press Club in Dhaka on Monday, describing the incident as part of a wider pattern of religious extremism, attacks on minorities and official inaction.India too raised concerns over the safety of minorities, the security of diplomatic missions and what it calls "misleading narratives" emerging from Bangladesh. New Delhi further urged Dhaka to bring those responsible for the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das to justice and said it remained "vigilant about the safety of minorities."From exile in India, Sheikh Hasina blamed interim chief adviser Muhammad Yunus for Bangladesh's instability, accusing the interim government of empowering extremists, failing to protect minorities and undermining ties with India.