'Registered strong protest with Bangladesh against Yunus advisor's' 'ANNEXING India' remark: MEA (WATCH)

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday denounced a Bangladeshi minister’s comment about annexing India, saying that the interim government should be ‘mindful’ of the comments made in public.

Mahfuz Alam, a close aide of Muhammad Yunus and an advisor to the interim government, stoked controversy after saying that West Bengal, Assam and Tripura “are part of Bangladesh”.

“We have registered our strong protest on this issue with the Bangladesh side. We understand that the post being referred to has reportedly been taken down,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said while addressing a press conference.

"We would like to remind all concerned to be mindful of their public comments,” he said.

“While India has repeatedly signalled interest in fostering relations with the people and the interim government of Bangladesh, such comments underline the need for responsibility in public articulation,” Jaiswal added.

In a now-deleted post on Facebook, Alam talked about “annexing” some parts of India’s eastern and northeastern territories. The post was published on the occasion of Vijay Diwas commemorating the war of 1971.

The Facebook post also contained a map that showed West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam as parts of Bangladesh.

Alam said that India’s northeast and Bangladesh share similar cultures, adding that the creation of East Bengal was the result of “anti-Bengal attitude” of upper-caste Hindus and “Hindu extremists.”