Security personnel stand guard outside the Bangladesh High Commission in view of the recent unrest in the country, in New Delhi, Monday, December 22. PTI
Bangladesh suspends visa services for Indians due to 'unavoidable circumstances'
A private operator tasked by Dhaka to process visa applications in West Bengal's Siliguri has also suspended its services
Amid mounting strain in relations between the two countries, Bangladesh has suspended visa services at its high commission in New Delhi and its mission in Tripura.
Bangladesh said it was temporarily suspending visa services due to “unavoidable circumstances”.
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A notice put up outside its commission in Delhi read, “Due to unavoidable circumstances, all consular & visa services from the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi are temporarily suspended until further notice.”
The assistant high commission of Bangladesh in Tripura also made a similar announcement on the suspension of visa services after protests were held outside the mission on Sunday.
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A private operator tasked by Dhaka to process visa applications in West Bengal's Siliguri has also suspended its services.
Bangladesh has witnessed a fresh wave of unrest following the death of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi last week. Hadi was a prominent face in the anti-government protests that forced the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government.
Some of the protesters last week also trained their anger against India.
Amid the fresh protests, a Hindu man, Dipu Chandra Das, was killed in Bangladesh's Mymensingh.
On Thursday, a group of angry protesters tried to storm India's assistant high commission in Chittagong. India subsequently suspended its visa services in the mission.
India on Wednesday summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
India's action followed after certain extremist elements announced plans to hold protests around the Indian high commission in Dhaka.
In a statement, the MEA said that India "completely rejects the false narrative" sought to be created by extremist elements regarding certain recent events in Bangladesh.
"It is unfortunate that the interim government has neither conducted a thorough investigation nor shared meaningful evidence with India regarding the incidents," it said shortly after summoning Hamidullah.