Foreign Affairs Adviser
'Bangladeshis do not fear barbed wire'
Humayun Kabir
"Bangladeshis do not fear barbed wire. The government does not either,” said Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir in response to West Bengal’s decision to install fencing along the border.
He spoke to journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. “Barbed wire can no longer be used to intimidate a country like Bangladesh. We will speak wherever we need to speak,” he said.
He added, “We have already seen incidents in the past during the ousted Hasina government, including people being shot dead at the border or bodies being left hanging on barbed wire. That will not happen again. Bangladesh is no longer a submissive country that will just sit and watch. We have our own plans on what needs to be done.”
Earlier in the morning, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari approved the allocation of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for installing barbed wire along the Bangladesh border at the first cabinet meeting.
Humayun Kabir stressed that neighboring countries must maintain regional peace. “We want dialogue with our neighbors. We want to remain in a balanced position. Challenges exist and will continue to exist. For example, Sheikh Hasina, accused of killing around 1,500 people and now in exile in India, is currently under shelter there. We have informed the Indian government to ensure she cannot carry out any subversive activities in Bangladesh, and the Indian government has assured us of this.”
He also said his recent visit to China was successful. He noted that there has been good progress in discussions on the Teesta issue and that China’s Exim Bank has shown interest in financing related projects.
