After the Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen cancelled his visit to India, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday that it should not be linked with protests in Northeast against Citizenship Amendment Bill.
MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the ties between India and Bangladesh are strong.
According to news agency ANI, Momen was scheduled to visit India between December 12 and 14 to attend the Indian Ocean Dialogue and hold talks with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.
Kumar also said that India had never said there was religious persecution in Bangladesh under Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina's government.
The statement from Kumar comes after Momen termed as "untrue” the allegations of minority repression in Bangladesh by Home Minister Amit Shah. Momen had said, “whoever gave them (Indian government) the information, it is not correct".
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"There seems to be some confusion. We have explained that religious persecution is not happening under the present government in Bangladesh. Migrants who have sought refuge in India from Bangladesh have faced persecution and abuse on religious grounds during the military rule and also under the previous government in Bangladesh," Kumar said.
"We have also acknowledged and we are aware that the present government in Bangladesh has taken several steps to address the concerns of minorities living there as per their Constitutional provisions," he added.
Home Minister Amit Shah had said there was no religious persecution of minorities in Bangladesh under the tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He had attacked Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party government and listed a number of instances of gangrape of Hindu women and vandalism of Hindu houses and temples under her tenure.
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Kumar also hit out at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for his remark on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill wherein he had said India's "regressive and discriminatory" Citizenship (Amendment) Bill reflects its "malafide intent" to interfere in the affairs of neighbouring countries based on religion.
Kumar said Pakistan should focus on how its is treating its own minorities rather than interfering in the matters of India.
