Bangladesh has decided to pull back the "extra security escort" given to top diplomats of four nations, including India, Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen stated on Tuesday.
Terming the measures "discriminatory" and "costly" as they involved taxpayer money, Momen added that the security escorts of the envoys of the US, India, the UK, and Saudi Arabia were withdrawn as several other diplomatic missions were demanding similar extra security protocols.
"We have decided not to provide additional security escort services to foreign ambassadors of any country," the minister told the press during a public event in Dhaka, the capital city.
Terming the measures "discriminatory" and "costly" as they involved taxpayer money, Momen added that the security escorts of the envoys of the US, India, the UK, and Saudi Arabia were withdrawn as several other diplomatic missions were demanding similar extra security protocols.
"We have decided not to provide additional security escort services to foreign ambassadors of any country," the minister told the press during a public event in Dhaka, the capital city.
The extra security protection included a 24/7 police escort, besides cops in riot gear guarding the diplomats of the four countries whenever and wherever they traveled in Bangladesh.
The development was also confirmed by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
"The additional security protocol we were providing to ambassadors and high commissioners of some particular countries has been withdrawn. But the normal security measures for them are in place," an official associated with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's diplomatic security division said.
The beefed-up security measures were put in place following an Islamist terrorist attack in Dhaka that killed 20 persons in 2016. Among the 20 who were hacked to death, 17 were foreigners, including a teenage Indian girl.