Touhid Calls Indian Foreign Secretary’s Poll Remark ‘Unwarranted’

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain.

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Wednesday described a recent comment by Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri regarding Bangladesh’s upcoming national election as “completely unwarranted.”

“I see that statement as not their matter; it is entirely an internal issue for Bangladesh, and such comments are completely unwarranted,” Touhid told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The remark came in response to Misri’s statement that India would engage with whoever comes to power in Bangladesh through free, fair, transparent, and internationally recognised elections.

During the briefing, Touhid also addressed other issues, including a letter from the president, military cooperation with Turkey, and visa challenges faced by Bangladeshi citizens abroad.

Regarding the president’s letter, Touhid said he had received it but preferred not to comment, noting it arrived physically long after appearing on social media. He clarified that no law or instruction had been issued concerning the removal of the president’s photograph from Bangladesh missions.

On reports of three foreign ambassadors visiting a former minister’s residence, he said, “Visiting a private house is not a crime,” while acknowledging public interest in the meeting’s outcomes.

Touhid described a possible Turkish military cooperation proposal as a routine bilateral engagement and cautioned against generalising reports of Bangladeshi casualties in counterterrorism operations abroad.

He also highlighted visa difficulties, noting that while 80,000 Bangladeshi students applied to German universities, only about 2,000 cases are processed annually. Bangladesh has requested Germany to increase the intake to 9,000, and alternative arrangements are being explored. He stressed that fake documents and irregular migration have complicated genuine applications and called for domestic reforms to address the issue.