The sweeping and unsubstantiated comments by a man holding such a high public office in a neighbouring country cannot help the cause of bilateral ties. The minister gave vent to his ostensibly ill feelings towards Bangladesh following a meeting with the chief minister of Assam and the union state minister for home affairs. The background is important because it is a clear pointer to the truth that the decision to implicate Bangladesh in a sensitive internal affair of an Indian state was taken at a high-level meeting.

Our position on all such issues is, however, quite clear. Bangladesh believes in the policy of peaceful co-existence which precludes the possibility of the country getting involved in any kind of activities running counter to the interests of a neighbour.

Furthermore, Mr. Thakur has overlooked certain facts which make the recent spate of violence in Assam a strictly ethnic outburst, centring on recruitment to the Indian railway, leaving little space for a neighbouring country to have a role in it. The All Assam Students Union was campaigning for a hundred per cent reservation of seats for the locals. The campaign ultimately turned violent and there was very unfortunate loss of lives when the Hindi-speaking people became the target of the militant groups.

Where do Bangladesh stand in this inter-state rivalry over recruitment to a government agency? This is a question that Mr. Thakur doesn't appear to have asked himself when he blamed Bangladesh.

The Indian minister has set an example of aggressive diplomacy extended a bit too far-- a rather regrettable one at that.