Bangladesh recalls 5 envoys, including high commissioner to India

The interim government in Bangladesh has carried out a major diplomatic reshuffle by recalling five of its envoys, including its high commissioner to India, media reports said on Thursday (October 3), quoting sources in the foreign ministry.

Bangladesh’s high commissioner to India, Mostafizur Rahman, has been asked to return to his country, along with Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the United Nations and its envoys to Belgium, Portugal, and Australia. They have reportedly been asked to hand over their responsibilities immediately and return to Bangladesh.

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This reshuffle comes after the interim government recalled its high commissioner to Britain recently.

Some of the envoys who have been recalled, including Rahman, are coming to the end of their diplomatic careers in the next few months.

Not political appointees 

Bangladesh’s foreign service is not very happy with this decision, said media reports quoting unnamed sources, because most of the envoys who have been recalled are not political appointees but career professionals.

Rahman, a career diplomat, was appointed the high commissioner to India in July 2022, and has been instrumental in improving relations and cooperation in various spheres between India and Bangladesh.

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This latest development comes at a time of flux in the relations between the two neighbours after the ouster of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the comments made by the special adviser to the interim government, Mohammad Yunus, criticising India and indicating that his administration may seek the extradition of Hasina to Bangladesh.

In the meantime, India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh, Pranay Varma, met the acting foreign minister Touhid Hossain in Dhaka on Wednesday (October 2) and discussed issues of bilateral interest, according to a statement by the Bangladesh foreign ministry.