India is scaling back its diplomatic presence in Bangladesh with non-essential staff and families from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka returning on a voluntary basis via a commercial flight, sources said on Wednesday. The High Commission is functional and all Indian diplomats continue to remain in Dhaka, sources added.
Besides the high commission or embassy in Dhaka, India has assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet, reports Indian Express citing sources.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said on Tuesday that it was India’s expectation that the host government would provide the required security protection to the Indian missions in Bangladesh and that New Delhi was looking forward to the normal functioning of its missions once the situation stabilised.
Bangladesh has plunged into a crisis after Sheikh Hasina, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 15 years, resigned as the prime minister on Monday following massive protests that initially began as an agitation against a job quota scheme. Weeks later, the protests morphed into a mass movement demanding her ouster from power that saw her fleeing the country and arriving in India.
