KOLKATA: Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, M. Riaz Hamidullah, is scheduled to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna, the state’s administrative headquarters, on Monday afternoon. The meeting carries diplomatic significance in light of recent tensions, including the vandalism of the historic Kachari House in Sirajganj, Bangladesh a site closely associated with Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
Chief Minister Banerjee had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to engage with the Bangladesh government for a thorough investigation into the incident, which she termed a matter of international concern and cultural sensitivity.
Diplomatic sources indicated that High Commissioner Hamidullah will provide the West Bengal Chief Minister with what he describes as the “real picture” behind the incident. Dhaka has maintained that the vandalism stemmed from a local law and order issue, with no links to politics or religion. The same position is expected to be reiterated during the meeting.
This will be the first meeting between a Bangladesh High Commissioner and Mamata Banerjee in nine years. The last such engagement took place in 2016, when Syed Muazzem Ali met the Chief Minister. Since then, attempts by successors Muhammad Imran and Mustafizur Rahman to hold similar discussions did not materialise.
Beyond the Kachari House issue, relations between India and Bangladesh have recently experienced strain due to an ongoing border dispute and efforts to identify and deport undocumented Bangladeshi nationals residing in India. The 2,217-kilometre-long shared land border with West Bengal remains a key area of focus.
Sources suggest that the High Commissioner is likely to propose discussions on making the border “more humanitarian, friendly, peaceful, and economically prosperous,” reflecting Bangladesh’s interest in maintaining cooperative and stable bilateral ties.