India is firmly in favour of free, fair, inclusive polls in Bangladesh: Foreign Secy

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday underlined India’s pragmatic and forward-looking approach towards Bangladesh, stressing that New Delhi seeks to strengthen relations based on mutual respect, stability, and people-centric development while continuing to support democratic processes in the neighbouring country.

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“I want to be very, very clear on this one matter. If there is any doubt in anybody’s mind, India is firmly in favour of free, fair, inclusive, and participatory elections in Bangladesh. And it is in favour of these elections being held at the earliest possible time,” Misri said.

He said, “We are encouraged by the fact that Bangladesh authorities themselves have spoken about the time frame for these elections.

And we would look forward to these elections taking place. As I said, we hope that they are held without any delay.”

“And also that we are looking forward to engaging with any government that emerges as a result of these elections. It will be a government, obviously, that will be elected with a popular mandate. And we will work with whichever government the people of Bangladesh choose to represent them,” he said.