Trump said nothing wrong, asked India, Bangladesh to sort out issues: Humayun Kabir
Regarding United States President Donald Trump's comment "I'll leave Bangladesh to the prime minister (Modi)", former Bangladesh ambassador to the US Humayun Kabir has said that Trump's statement was very spontaneous as it was made in response to a question from a reporter yesterday (13 February).
"So first we have to understand the question. The question was if the American deep state had played a role in the shift of the political landscape in Bangladesh. Trump denied playing any role," Humayun told The Business Standard today (14 February).
"The next thing he said was 'I leave it to Prime Minister', which means he is asking India and Bangladesh to sort out the relationship issues Bangladesh now has with India. He has not said anything negative.
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"So, I am assuming the basic answer is the American deep state was not involved in this and if India has any heartburn regarding Bangladesh, Prime Minister Modi will try to address that," said the former diplomat.
He said Modi is under a tremendous amount of pressure. "If you read the joint communique, they have mostly talked about defence equipment and trade. Shortly before meeting Prime Minister Modi, Trump told reporters that India is a "hard place to do business" because of their high tariffs."
"The announcement regarding reciprocal tariff just before Modi's visit is a signal for India. So, I do not think much of Modi not saying anything regarding Bangladesh," Humayun said.
The former ambassador continued, "The fact that the Bangladesh issue was not a big talking point in the discussions is a positive for us. One of the biggest arguments Indians had for supporting Sheikh Hasina was that her ouster was a conspiracy.
"The OHCHR report and Trump's statement prove there were no conspiracies. Thus, India no longer has any strong arguments for their position regarding Bangladesh."
There has been a whirlwind of reports on Indian media with headlines of the likes of "Trump leaves Bangladesh to Modi" after the US president made the remark yesterday.
Before the key meeting between Modi and the US president, a journalist had asked for Trump's opinion on the Bangladesh issue, saying it was evident that the US deep state was involved in the regime change in Bangladesh during the Biden administration and the appointment of Prof Muhammad Yunus as the chief adviser of Bangladesh.
In response, Trump said, "Well, there was no role for our deep state. This is something that the prime minister [Modi] has been working on for a long time and has been worked on for hundreds of years frankly. I've been reading about it."
"But I will leave Bangladesh to the prime minister [Modi to address]," he said, looking at the Indian premier sitting beside him to respond.
Modi, however, avoided addressing the issue and did not say anything about Bangladesh.
