'Foreign ministry can't do anything based on speculation': Adviser Touhid on president's reported second home in Malaysia
"But I don't want to talk about it. There is a legal aspect to it, the President has his own affairs. It's not my job," he said
The ongoing "speculation" about President Mohammed Shahabuddin's reported "second home' is a very sensitive issue and it falls on the shoulders of authorities concerned to look into it, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said today (9 September).
"The foreign ministry has no work related to it. The ministry cannot do anything based on speculation. It is a very sensitive matter regarding the President. The proper authorities will look into it," he said in a press briefing at the ministry today (9 September).
He, however, said the foreign ministry has to get involved in the matter, it will be at the last stage, reports Jamuna TV.
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"But I don't want to talk about it. There is a legal aspect to it, the President has his own affairs. It's not my job," he said.
Earlier yesterday, various photos and documents purported to show the president's dual citizenship status in the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia went viral on social media.
The trove of documents was met with a storm of criticism and discussion.
Meanwhile, referring to the recent killings of Bangladeshi minors at the border by the Indian Border Security Forces, the foreign adviser said such killings can have a negative impact on the bilateral relations between the two countries.
"Bangladesh-India ties need to be strengthened at the people-to-people level. When border killings occur, they create negative repercussions among the masses... we do not want this," he said.
Stating the killings by BSF at the border as "unacceptable, he said, ""We are awaiting confirmation from the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB). Once we receive it, we will lodge a strong protest with New Delhi," he said.
Hossain noted that border killings also took place during the so-called "golden chapter" of Bangladesh-India relations under the previous Awami League government, adding that "the trend has continued even now."
The adviser emphasised that when Dhaka seeks good relations with India, these ties must be built on fairness. "We do not want one-sided relations," he added.
Earlier, the foreign ministry lodged a formal protest with the Indian government following the killing of a 13-year-old Bangladeshi girl, Shwarna Das, from Juri upazila of Moulvibazar district. Das was reportedly shot and killed by India's Border Security Force (BSF) on 1 September.
However, within just over a week, the BSF has killed another Bangladeshi teen and injured two others including the teen's father along the Baliadangi border in Thakurgaon early today.
