Sheikh Hasina  

Bangladesh said on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Dhaka that people left out in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam would not be deported to the country.

“Prime Minister Modi has personally reassured our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” said H.T. Imam, Political Adviser to the Bangladesh Prime Minister.

Speaking to a global media delegation in the Office of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the influential Political Adviser to Ms. Hasina said Dhaka had also been repeatedly assured on similar lines by other Indian representatives, including the High Commissioner of India Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

Mr. Imam declined to reveal when precisely the Indian leader assured his Bangladesh counterpart.

He took note of comments by BJP President Amit Shah, who had described illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to India as “termites.”

Mr. Amit Shah’s use of the term was his own expression meant to cater to domestic political constituency, he said.

The BJP on Thursday avoided a direct answer to a question on Prime Minister Modi’s reported assurance to his Bangladeshi counterpart. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said he “did not know of any such conversation between the two premiers.” He only knew the Indian law which said illegal immigrants were to be deported.

( With inputs from Nistula Hebbar in Delhi )

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