Pakistan protests Bangladeshi statement

Pakistan on Monday protested against a Bangladeshi government statement that Islamabad had interfered in Dhaka's internal affairs by commenting on the execution of two war criminals.

The Pakistan Foreign Office lodged the protest by summoning the acting high Commissioner of Bangladesh.

The diplomat was told that Pakistan "rejected the baseless and unfounded assertions of the Bangladesh government conveyed to the Pakistani envoy in Dhaka on November 23," Foreign Office spokesperson Syed Qazi Khalilullah said.

The spokesperson said Pakistan also rejected insinuation of "complicity in committing crimes or war atrocities".

"It is regrettable that attempts have been made by the government of Bangladesh to malign Pakistan, despite our ardent desire to develop brotherly relations with Bangladesh," said the spokesperson.

He said Pakistan believes that the people of both countries not only want to maintain but further strengthen the bonds of friendship and brotherhood. However, Dhaka does not seem to respect these sentiments.

Pakistan on November 22 said that it was deeply disturbed by the executions of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader as well as the Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general.

Both were charged with committing war crimes during the 1971 civil war that led to the secession of then East Pakistan and its emergence as an independent nation Bangladesh.

BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid were hanged in the Dhaka Central Jail .

Bangladesh summoned Pakistan's High Commissioner Shuja Alam the next day and lodged a strong protest over the statement made by its Foreign Office, terming it an interference in Dhaka's internal affairs.