India calls for 'realistic, sensitive' approach to handle Rohingya crisis

India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Thursday asserted that the Rohingya crisis can be best addressed through practical measures and constructive conversations and also called for 'realistic, sensitive' approach to handle the situation.

"The fact that there is an exodus of large number of people from Rakhine state to Bangladesh is a matter of concern. Our objective would be to say that how they can go back to their place of origin that is not easy," Jaishankar said at a Carnegie India seminar on 'Connecting the Bay of Bengal: India, Japan and regional cooperation'.

He mentioned that India is in talks with Bangladesh and also engaged with Myanmar separately on to address the Rohingya crisis in best possible way.

"We are talking to Bangladesh; we are separately engaged with Myanmar. There have been high level conversations between both countries and we feel this was the situation which is better addressed to practical measures and constructive conversations rather than doing strong condemnation," he said.

"We actually feel that this one where we need much more sobre, realistic and locally sensitive approach," he added.

Close to 40,000 Rohingya Muslims live in India. Nearly 15,000 have received refugee documentation, according to the United Nations, but India wants to deport them all.

India has announced that it plans to deport an estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees living illegally in India. The government said that even those registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees would be deported.

Earlier, the Centre had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, informing that the Rohingya refugees were a threat to national security as many of them have links to terror organisations.

The Rohingyas fled to India and Bangladesh after violence in the western Rakhine State of Myanmar.