NEW DELHI: With the US readout of PM Narendra Modi‘s conversation with President Joe Biden not mentioning Bangladesh, leading to suggestions it may not have been a major issue in the talks, the ministry of external affairs said Bangladesh was “substantially” discussed and its press release was an accurate and faithful record of what transpired in the talks. The Indian readout had said that the leaders shared concern about Bangladesh and emphasised security for Hindus and other minorities in the country.
The foreign ministry said that claims about Bangladesh not featuring prominently in the talks were uninformed, tendentious, motivated and betrayed a total lack of familiarity with the process of how such contacts between leaders are organised and then followed up on.
“Firstly, press releases issued after such conversations between leaders are not like joint statements where every word is negotiated and mutually agreed upon. Secondly, such press releases are not meant to be comprehensive readouts of such conversations. Finally, it is not unusual for two sides to emphasise different aspects of the same conversation in their respective readouts,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
“The absence of an aspect in one press release or the other is not evidence of its absence in the conversation itself,” he said, adding he was very much aware about the contents of the talks and the issue was discussed substantially.
The foreign ministry said that claims about Bangladesh not featuring prominently in the talks were uninformed, tendentious, motivated and betrayed a total lack of familiarity with the process of how such contacts between leaders are organised and then followed up on.
“Firstly, press releases issued after such conversations between leaders are not like joint statements where every word is negotiated and mutually agreed upon. Secondly, such press releases are not meant to be comprehensive readouts of such conversations. Finally, it is not unusual for two sides to emphasise different aspects of the same conversation in their respective readouts,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
“The absence of an aspect in one press release or the other is not evidence of its absence in the conversation itself,” he said, adding he was very much aware about the contents of the talks and the issue was discussed substantially.
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