Congress questions govt’s silence after Yunus gifts map to Pak general that shows northeastern states as part of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Interim Government head  Muhammad Yunus appears to have triggered a massive diplomatic row with India after he apparently gifted a Pakistani general a map that illegally shows northeastern Indian states as part of Bangladesh.

On Sunday, Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairperson, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, met Yusuf as the two countries seek to mend ties that have been historically strained since the Bangladesh 1971 Liberation War.

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During the meeting, Yunus gifted the Pakistani general a book whose cover carried the redrawn map to show Northeast India as a part of Bangladesh.

This sparked a political row with the Opposition Congress questioning the silence of the Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi asked why Sarma, an otherwise outspoken chief minister, is keeping a “conspicuous silence” on this?

“Why isn’t the government lodging strong protests against Bangladesh and its leader for trying to insinuate in the form of a redrawn map to show Northeast India as part of Bangladesh?” he asked.

The ties between India and Bangladesh have been strained since Yunus took over the reins as the Chief Advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government amid violent protests.

Hasina took refuge in India, which didn’t go down well with the Yunus-led Bangladeshi Interim Government.