India’s acting High Commissioner in Dhaka, Pawan Badhe, was summoned by Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Information Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman was allegedly stopped at the Delhi airport on Sunday for “mysterious reasons”, Prothom Alo reported.
Dhaka expressed dissatisfaction about the incident, the newspaper reported.
The Indian external affairs ministry has not yet commented on the matter.
Zahed Ur Rahman had arrived in Delhi to attend a two-day meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association hosted by India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
While the adviser was eventually granted permission to enter India following instructions from the higher authorities, he chose to return to Dhaka via Colombo on Monday afternoon. He had waited for more than two hours during the immigration process in Delhi, The Daily Star reported.
It was unclear what caused the delay.
Bangladeshi High Commissioner to India M Riaz Hamidullah was present at the airport and identified Zahed Ur Rahman to the immigration authorities, The Wire quoted unidentified diplomatic officials as saying.
The Indian authorities had been informed in advance that Zahed Ur Rahman would lead Bangladesh’s delegation at the meeting that began on Monday, The Wire reported.
While other members of the Bangladeshi delegation were cleared to enter India without difficulty, Rahman remained held up, The Wire reported.
On Monday, Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Adviser Khalilur Rahman told reporters that the incident was unexpected, Prothom Alo reported.
Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.
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