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Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday said the state government has begun verification of reports about Bangladeshi nationals obtaining Aadhaar and other identity documents and assured that action would be taken wherever violations are found. Speaking to reporters here, Parameshwara said he has already instructed senior police officials to compile detailed data on the presence of Bangladeshi nationals in Karnataka. The focus, he said, is on identifying those who have entered the country illegally and secured local identity documents to stay in the state. "We are verifying it. Already, I have told the Director General of Police and the police commissioners to extract statistics about Bangladeshis staying in Karnataka," Parameshwara said, adding, "They have come here and got different kinds of ID cards. They have got Aadhaar cards and other IDs and are behaving as if they are not even Bangladeshis." His response came following the arrest of two Bangladeshi nationals in th
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma on Saturday met BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, a day after the party officially elected him to the position ahead of the scheduled February 12 elections. The meeting lasted for some 40 minutes, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) media cell spokesman Sayrul Kabir Khan told PTI, calling it a courtesy call. BNP emerged as the forerunner in Bangladesh politics, with its once crucial ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, being the main rival, ahead of the scheduled February 12 elections, in the absence of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's now disbanded Awami League. A student-led violent street movement toppled the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, while the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government disbanded the party in an executive order last year, debarring it from contesting the elections. Rahman has been steering BNP as its acting chairman since 2018. The party's policy-making standing committee on Friday night formally elected him as
Bangladesh's Tarique Rahman on Friday was appointed as the chairman of the BNP, days after the demise of his mother and party chairperson Khaleda Zia following a prolonged illness. The Standing Committee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) approved the appointment of Rahman as the Chairman of the party in a meeting on Friday, local media reported. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir confirmed the appointment to the media after the meeting, Dhaka Tribune reported. Rahman, who returned to Bangladesh on December 25 after 17 years of self-exile in London, was appointed the chairman after the post of BNP chairman was left vacant following the death of party chairperson and his mother, Khaleda Zia. The three-time Bangladesh prime minister and BNP patriarch died on December 30 following a prolonged illness. A meeting of the National Standing Committee was convened to address the vacancy, as per the party constitution, the report added.
India on Friday called on Bangladesh to firmly deal with communal incidents in that country. New Delhi's reaction came against the backdrop of the killing of at least five Hindu men in hostile circumstances in Bangladesh in the last few weeks. "We continue to witness a disturbing pattern of recurring attacks on minorities as well as their homes and businesses by extremists," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Such communal incidents need to be dealt with swiftly and firmly, he said. "We have observed a troubling tendency to attribute such incidents to personal rivalries, political differences, or extraneous reasons," Jaiswal said. "Such disregard only emboldens the perpetrators and deepens the sense of fear and insecurity among minorities," he added.
Bangladesh's interim government on Thursday said it has asked its key missions in India, including at New Delhi, to suspend visa services over security concerns. Foreign Affairs Adviser M Touhid Hossain told a media briefing at his office that Bangladesh has also sought reversal of a recently imposed visa bond requirement by the United States. What I have done is that I have asked our three missions (in India) to keep their visa sections closed for the time being. It's a security issue, Hossain said. The adviser's comments came after Bangladesh's Deputy High Commission in Kolkata overnight restricted visa services after identical moves in New Delhi and Agartala keeping business and work visas beyond the purview of the restriction. Bangladesh has diplomatic missions in Mumbai and Chennai as well, where the visa services remained operative. India had earlier imposed restrictions on visas for Bangladeshi nationals after August 5, 2024, citing security concerns. Bangladesh ties with
Pakistan and Bangladesh air chiefs held talks on "potential procurement" of JF-Thunder fighter jets by Dhaka as a mark of deepening defence ties between the two countries, the Pakistani military has said. However, Bangladesh has not yet confirmed whether such a plan exists. The JF-17 Thunder is a single-engine lightweight combat jet developed jointly by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). Though Pakistan claims that the jet has proved its capabilities during the conflict with India, its effectiveness is not clearly known. Pakistan had extensively used Chinese-origin Chengdu J-10 fighter jets during the May 7-10 conflict with India, according to experts and military officials. A high-level defence delegation led by Chief of the Air Staff, Bangladesh Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan, called on Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, at Air Headquarters, Islamabad, on .
Slain student leader Sharif Osman Hadi's party on Tuesday launched a day-long rally in Dhaka, pressing for justice in his killing, and demanding, among other measures, the cancellation of work permits of all Indians residing in Bangladesh. As part of its four-point demand, Inqilab Moncho also sought the repatriation of the alleged killers who, it claims, have taken refuge in India, warning that Dhaka should move the International Court of Justice if New Delhi refuses to hand them over, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. Indian authorities had dismissed claims that Hadi's killers crossed into India, saying there is no evidence of illegal border movement. The 'March for Justice' began around 11:30 am from Shahbagh, with activists travelling on 10 pickup vans and on foot through several major intersections, including Science Lab, Mohammadpur, Mirpur-10, Uttara, Bashundhara, Badda, Rampura and Jatrabari, before returning to Shahbagh in the evening, the newspaper quoted the organisers
Thirteen central leaders of the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) have resigned in the last eight days over its alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of the elections in Bangladesh in February, a report said. Apart from alliance with Jamaat, the leaders also raised several common allegations against NCP, including a lack of transparency in decision-making and political compromise, Bangladesh's web portal The Business Standard reported on Saturday. The fierce 2024 violent street campaign, dubbed the July Uprising, was carried out under the banner of the Students against Discrimination (SAD), and a large offshoot of the platform in February this year emerged as the NCP with interim government chief Muhammad Yunus' backing. Despite the objections, Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman officially announced the alliance with the NCP last week at a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka, the report said. Even before the alliance was formally announced, 30 central NCP leader
Bangladesh has decided in principle to procure 14 aircraft from US multinational Boeing, opting out of its rival European conglomerate Airbus after a protracted competition that also saw extensive diplomatic engagement by the countries concerned. State-run BSS news agency reported that Biman Bangladesh Airlines decided to procure the Boeing aircraft at its annual general meeting as part of its fleet expansion plan. "The approved order comprises eight Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and four Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft," the report said, adding, however, that the deal would be finalised following further price negotiations and after meeting other terms set by Biman's techno-finance committee.
Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Thursday said the "SAARC spirit is alive", underlining that South Asian nations came together to share the country's "grief and sorrow" at the funeral of former prime minister Khaleda Zia. Top leaders from across South Asia, including India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, attended Zia's funeral in Dhaka on Wednesday. In a statement posted on social media, the Chief Adviser's office said Yunus was "deeply moved" by the respect shown by SAARC member states for the three-time prime minister and the world's second female Muslim head of government. During meetings with visiting South Asian leaders, Yunus repeatedly emphasised the need to revive the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), it said. We witnessed a true SAARC spirit at the funeral yesterday. The SAARC spirit is still alive, he said during his meeting with Maldives Minister of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development Ali Haider Ahmed. During his