India remains deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored in Bangladesh and it is monitoring the status of minorities following the resignation and fleeing of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, India's Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.
"We are also monitoring the situation with regard to the status of minorities. There are reports of initiatives by various groups and organisations to ensure their protection and well-being. We welcome that, but will naturally remain deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored," Jaishankar said at Rajya Sabha in a suo moto statement on the situation in Bangladesh "Our border guarding forces have also been instructed to be exceptionally in view of this complex situation," he said, a day after Hasina flew to India where she has been kept at a safe shelter.
Jaishankar expected that the government in Bangladesh would provide the required security protection for the High Commission in Dhaka and the assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet.
"We look forward to their normal functioning once the situation stabilises," Jaishankar said.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs is in close and continuous touch with the Indian community in Bangladesh through its diplomatic missions. There are an estimated 19,000 Indian nationals, of which about 9,000 are students.
The bulk of the students have already returned to India in the month of July on the advice of the High Commission.
He said India-Bangladesh relations have been exceptionally close for many decades over many governments. Concern about recent violence and instability is shared across the political spectrum.
