Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said that “only a few” can oppose the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so there is no reason to be worried about their protest.
“People are with us. We’ve no reason to be concerned about the issue,” he said at a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy.
“We are proud that the Indian Prime Minister is coming to Bangladesh accepting the invitation,” he said, as Modi is coming to attend the birth centenary celebration of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and golden jubilee of independence of Bangladesh.
“We are democracy. We allow all to exercise their freedom. But there is nothing to be worried about the protest,” Dr Momen said, adding that the government would ensure fool-proof security to all the foreign dignitaries.
The foreign minister also said that they are “happy” that Modi would visit different places outside Dhaka.
The Indian Prime Minister would visit Bangabandhu Memorial in Tungipara and Orakandi, a sacred shrine of the “Matua’ community in Gopalganj.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam urged all to show respect for the invited guests if they have respect for the Bangabandhu as Father of the Nation and love for the country.
He also asked Gonoshasthya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury and other parties and groups having links with BNP to refrain from exhibiting “double-standards” by opposing Modi’s visits. They tried to appease the Indian PM during his first term of government, he said, referring to the return of BJP in New Delhi in 2014.
