India-Bangladesh Relations: The detention of Bangladeshi delegation head Zaheed Ur Rahman at Delhi airport has escalated a dispute between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh has described India's explanation as unsatisfactory.

Controversy over detention of Bangladeshi delegation head Zaheed Ur Rahman

A new controversy has arisen between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh has refused to accept India's explanation for the detention of Prime Minister Tariq Rahman's advisor, Zaheed Ur Rahman, at Delhi airport. The Bangladesh government has dismissed India's response as unsatisfactory and called the entire incident unfortunate and tragic. A spokesperson for the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry stated that their government is not satisfied with the statement issued by the Indian Foreign Ministry regarding this matter.

He stated that India had been clearly informed through diplomatic channels that Zahidur Rahman was traveling to India to lead the Bangladeshi delegation to the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) meeting. Despite this, the treatment meted out to him at Delhi airport was inappropriate and deeply regrettable.

Zahidur Rahman had come to India to attend the IORA meeting this month, but was detained at Delhi airport for a long time. He became angry after this incident and decided to return to Dhaka instead of staying in India. Regarding this matter, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that Zahidur Rahman had arrived in India on June 14th on a private, non-diplomatic passport and a SAARC visa. According to India, he was detained during the initial screening due to security concerns.

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What did the Foreign Ministry say?

The Ministry of External Affairs stated that Zahid ur Rehman's name was on a security blacklist, citing his known use of vitriolic and hateful language against India. This is why he was subjected to security checks at the airport. India also stated that after the checks were completed, it was confirmed that the purpose of his visit was to participate in the IORA multilateral meeting.

He was subsequently granted entry into India. However, despite receiving permission, he voluntarily decided to return to Bangladesh. The differences between the two countries are clearly visible regarding this entire matter. While India is calling it a normal security procedure, Bangladesh considers it to be against diplomatic protocol and inappropriate.