India’s new citizenship law was not necessary: Sheikh Hasina
She also said she did not understand the purpose of the Citizenship law passed in India
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said neighbouring India's new Citizenship Amendment Act was not necessary.
"We don't understand why [the Indian government] did it. It was not necessary," the premier told Gulf News during an interview in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi.
She also said she did not understand the purpose of the Citizenship law passed in India that aims to offer citizenship to non-Muslim minorities that have faced persecution in Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries.
"[Still], it is an internal affair," Sheikh Hasina said. "Bangladesh has always maintained that the CAA and NRC are internal matters of India. The Government of India, on their part, has also repeatedly maintained that the NRC is an internal exercise of India and Prime Minister Modi has in person assured me of the same during my visit to New Delhi in October 2019," she added.
Sheikh Hasina also said the relationship between Bangladesh and India is currently at its best, with cooperation in a "wide spectrum of areas".
The Citizenship law was passed by the India Parliament on December 11, 2019, and provides a path to citizenship for members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian religious minorities who have allegedly fled persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 2014.
During the interview, the premier also highlighted concerns with Myanmar, from where 1.2 million Rohingya have arrived, and are living now in camps in Bangladesh's southeastern area of Cox Bazaar.
