NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered on Friday support to the interim leader of neighboring Bangladesh, who took power after New Delhi’s autocratic ally Sheikh Hasina was ousted.
The comments were made following a phone call between Modi and Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who is heading the caretaker administration formed after ex-prime minister Hasina fled to India.
Hasina’s fall has raised concerns in New Delhi, which has key investments and close security ties with its eastern neighbor.
Modi “reaffirmed India’s support for democratic, stable, peaceful and progressive Bangladesh,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Hasina’s 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
But Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government preferred Hasina over her rivals from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which it saw as closer to conservative Islamist groups.
In the immediate aftermath of Hasina’s fall, attacks on Hindus across Muslim-majority Bangladesh were reported.
The security situation has since far improved.
Hindus are the largest minority faith in Bangladesh and were considered a steadfast support base for Hasina’s party, the Awami League.
Modi “underlined the importance of ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other minority communities in Bangladesh,” India’s foreign ministry said.
Bangladesh’s new interim government has already said it is committed to restore law and order and to protect all minorities.