India will stand by Bangladesh in Rohingya crisis

India has changed its position on the Rohingya issue and said it will stand by Bangladesh in the Rohingya crisis. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj conveyed this message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in line with Myanmar, called the Rohingya crisis an 'Islamic terrorist issue'. Now, there has been a major change in his position. And the architects behind this change in position have been Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, and Bangladesh High Commissioner in Delhi, Syed Moazzem Ali.

A diplomatic source in Delhi said that Bangladesh has been delaying diplomatic talks with India on the Rohingya issue. Bangladesh has taken the initiative, albeit late. In view of this, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj telephoned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday night to inform her of Delhi's change of position.

A diplomat in Dhaka said that Sushma Swaraj told Sheikh Hasina over the phone that India believes in Bangladesh's position on the Rohingya issue. India will also raise the issue of sending the Rohingya back to Myanmar in multilateral and secret meetings.

During their visit to New York, officials in Dhaka and Delhi began working on the possibility of Sheikh Hasina and Sushma Swaraj flying on the same flight. They flew from Abu Dhabi on the same Etihad Airways flight over the Atlantic Ocean, landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport after a nearly 14-hour journey.

Video footage from various media outlets shows Sushma Swaraj getting off first. Then, seeing Sheikh Hasina exiting the plane, everyone was convinced that there had been extensive discussions between them on the plane.

Multiple diplomatic sources confirmed that the Rohingya issue dominated their discussions. Sushma Swaraj conveyed a clear message of standing by Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue. Various aspects of the two countries' actions in this regard were also discussed.