India and Bangladesh summon envoys as diplomatic tensions escalate

India and Bangladesh have engaged in a fresh round of mutual diplomatic protests, summoning each other's envoys amid sharply deteriorating bilateral ties. On Tuesday (December 23), the Ministry of External Affairs summoned Bangladesh's High Commissioner to New Delhi, Muhammad Riaz Hamidullah, for the second time in a week, as inflammatory comments have been made by Bangladeshi politicians against India.

The move came shortly after Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry called in India's High Commissioner Pranay Verma to express concern over the security of Bangladeshi diplomatic missions and personnel in India. The latest Indian protest focused on threats to its diplomatic posts, particularly after an attack on the Indian Assistant High Commission in Chittagong (Chattogram). Protesters hurled stones at the mission's premises during unrest triggered by the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.

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The incident prompted India to suspend visa services indefinitely at its visa application centre in the port city, citing security concerns. The attack followed violent demonstrations across Bangladesh after Hadi, a senior figure in the Inquilab Mancha platform and an outspoken critic of India, died on Thursday (December 18) from injuries sustained in a shooting in Dhaka earlier this month in December. His death sparked widespread protests, including vandalism of media offices.

Meanwhile, protests over the killing of a Hindu minority man in Bangladesh triggered protests outside Delhi's diplomatic enclave by members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. Demonstrators expressed outrage over the mob lynching of Hindu garment worker Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh. Das was beaten to death and his body set alight over alleged blasphemy, prompting arrests but also highlighting concerns about minority safety. Bangladesh has meanwhile suspended visa operations in Delhi, Siliguri, and Agartala.