Sushma Swaraj calls Sheikh Hasina, vows to back Dhaka on Rohingya issue

NEW DELHI: Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj called up Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday night and assured her of New Delhi’s full support on the Rohingya infiltration issue.

“India’s position is the same as Bangladesh’s on the Rohingya issue,” Bangladesh government sources quoted Swaraj as telling Hasina during the phone call.

Swaraj is also understood to have appraised Hasina about India urging Myanmar to take steps to stop Rohingyas from fleeing. India is assisting Myanmar to develop socioeconomic projects in the Rakhine state to settle Rohingyas there and improve the local economy there.

But Delhi is closely working with Yangon to counter the ISI-sponsored terrorists within the Rohingyas.

This was decided when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Myanmar last week.

Hasina told Swaraj that her government has designated land for makeshift shelters of the Rohingyas, but made it clear that if they stayed for too long, it would become a big challenge for Bangladesh.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla handed over 53 tonnes of relief material for the Rohingya refugees to the Bangladesh authorities on Thursday.

Around 400,000 Rohingyas are suspected to have entered Bangladesh since August last week after the terror attack on Myanmar Army by terrorists in the Rohingya ranks. Hasina may raise the Rohingya issue and difficulties faced by Bangladesh at the UN General Assembly in New York.