Bangladesh not intimidated by barbed wire, says Dhaka as West Bengal clears land for border fence

Humayun Kabir, the foreign affairs adviser to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, on Monday said that the country will not be intimidated by barbed-wired border fences and will not remain silent if killings continue along the boundary with India, Dhaka-based news agency UNB reported.

“The government of Bangladesh is also not afraid of barbed wire; where we need to talk, we will talk,” he was quoted as saying.

Responding to a reporters’ questions, Kabir said that New Delhi needed to demonstrate a more “humane approach” in resolving problems along the border if it wants to strengthen people-to-people relations.

The comments came after West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said that the new Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had approved the transfer of land to the Border Security Force to erect a fence along the border with Bangladesh.

Kabir said that the rhetoric during election campaigns and governance can be separate and Dhaka was waiting to see whether the BJP government was following through on its poll promises.

“Let’s wait and give it some time to see whether the BJP government in West Bengal intends to carry the same rhetoric into governance,” the news agency quoted him as saying.

He added that Dhaka’s relationship was primarily with New Delhi, Prothom Alo reported. “We do not want...

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