Bangladesh Foreign Minister cancels India visit, decision not linked to CAB, says Indian govt

New Delhi: A day after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by the Rajya Sabha, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen has cancelled his three-day visit to India which was supposed to begin on Thursday.

According to an earlier advisory issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Momen was scheduled to arrive here at 5:20 pm on Thursday.

Diplomatic sources said Momen cancelled his trip over the situation arising out of the passage of the controversial bill in Parliament.

In a statement in Dhaka, Momen said he had to cancel his trip to New Delhi due pressing engagements.

"I had to cancel my trip to New Delhi as I have to participate in the 'Buddijibi Debosh' and 'Bijoy Debosh' and more so as our State Minister is out of the country in Madrid and our Foreign Secretary is in The Hague," he said.

A statement released by the Bangladeshi government said the foreign minister decided to cancel his trip given "increasing demand" at home.

There have been massive protests in Assam and several northeastern states against the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Indian government has however, confirmed that the cancellation of the visit was not linked to the passage of the bill.

In a press meet held on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the ties with Bangladesh were strong. "We need to delink the visit with the CAB," he added.

(With inputs from PTI.)