Foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Wednesday said that it was not clear to him whether India conveyed any message by its reported decision to withdraw family members of its diplomats stationed in Bangladesh.

‘We are not informed of any security concerns of the family members of Indian diplomats in Bangladesh… I don’t find any correct message here. If they want to take back their families, they are free to do so. In that case, we have nothing to do,’ he said, responding to a reporter’s question at his Segun Bagicha office in the capital Dhaka.

He stated that there was no such situation here that should compel them to send their dependents back home.

Touhid, also a retired diplomat, said that he did not find any justification for the reported ‘non-family posting’ of Indian diplomats ahead of the Bangladesh’s national polls scheduled for February 12.

Referring to the security situation centring the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections, Touhid asserted that there was no security concern that warranted such withdrawal of the family members from Bangladesh to India. ‘There is no situation in Bangladesh where officials or their family members are in danger,’ he added.

Asked whether the Indian High Commission in Dhaka had raised security concerns in advance to the government, the adviser said no such concerns had been communicated so far.

The Indian government has recently advised the dependents of officials posted at its High Commission in Dhaka and other missions outside Dhaka to return home as a precautionary measure, citing the security situation, the Indian media reported.

However, the High Commission in Dhaka and other Indian missions in Bangladesh continue to remain open and fully operational.

The relations between Bangladesh and India stand strained over a series of incidents following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime, amid a mass uprising, on August 5, 2024, when she fled to India for shelter.

The deposed prime minister was sheltered in New Delhi despite repeated calls from Dhaka to send her back under the extradition treaty to ensure justice.

Bangladesh has, meanwhile, expressed surprise at India allowing deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League president, to make an ‘inciting statement’ at a public event in New Delhi on January 23 as the elections near.