Raising the issue of Rohingyas, Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin has urged Indian authorities to take "effective" steps in persuading neighbouring Myanmar to take back their Muslim citizens who took refuge in Bangladesh to evade persecution.
Shahabuddin, age 73, was sworn-in as the 22nd President of Bangladesh on 24 April; he requested that Pranay Kumar Verma, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, visit him on Tuesday.
During the meeting, Shahabuddin told the Indian envoy that Dhaka had extended its help to Myanmar citizens but noted that they were creating problems in Bangladesh and the entire region, his press secretary Mohammed Joynal Abedin relayed.
Bangladesh is helping Myanmar citizens on humanitarian grounds, but their prolonged stay is causing problems, the president stated to the Indian envoy in an apparent reference to the escalating security risks, including terrorism.
Meanwhile, the president said Bangladesh considers India its closest and most important neighbour and termed the existing bilateral ties "strong and unique."
Why Are Rohingya Muslims Fleeing?
The Rohingyas are an ethnic minority group who have lived in Myanmar for centuries, but have been denied citizenship since 1982.
Currently, Rohingyas are considered illegal immigrants from South Asia. Rohingya Muslims started fleeing the country in huge numbers after 2014, when Myanmar's government asked them to change their ethnicity from Rohingya to Bengali in the census.