India today said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has conveyed to Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain during their bilateral meeting in Muscat last Sunday that it was important for Dhaka "not to normalise terrorism."

Asked if the Saarc issue had come up during talks between Hossain and Jaishankar in Oman's capital city on February 16, MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told the weekly media briefing in New Delhi that "yes, the Saarc did come up for discussions".

"Everyone in South Asia knows which country and what activities are stymieing Saarc. The EAM (External Affairs Minister) has conveyed that it is important for Bangladesh not to normalise terrorism," Jaiswal said.

The Saarc has remained moribund for more than eight years since a deadly terror attack on an Indian army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in September, 2016 as India accused Pakistan of sponsoring cross-border terrorism and that talks and terror cannot go hand in hand.

Jaiswal expressed unhappiness over anti-India statements being made by certain advisers of Bangladesh's interim government and said these remarks were not helpful for bilateral ties.

"We have taken note of the remarks being made by certain advisers and what impact they would have on our dealings" with Bangladesh. The remarks by certain advisers "are of course not helpful. It is for the individuals concerned to reflect on the implications (of their remarks) for their particular debate," he said.

Asked to respond to BGB Director General Maj Gen Md Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui at a press conference in New Delhi yesterday that the reports of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh since August 5 were "exaggerated," Jaiswal said "we are all well aware of what has been happening with the minorities in Bangladesh for the last several months. In fact, it also came up in talks during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with President Donald Trump in Washington earlier this month, he added.

"There have been issues with regard to the safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh and we relayed our concerns over what has been happening in Bangladesh," the MEA spokesman said.