India fully understands urgency of early, safe Rohingya repatriation: S Jaishankar

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that India "fully understands the urgency of an early, safe and sustainable repatriation of displaced persons from Myanmar's Rakhine state in the interest of all".

He said, "As a neighbour of both Bangladesh and Myanmar, we fully understand the urgency of this issue and an early, safe and sustainable repatriation of displaced persons from Rakhine lies in the collective interest of all."

In a letter to his Bangladeshi counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen recently, Jaishankar also acclaimed the Bangladesh government for hosting the displaced Rohingyas from Rakhine state of Myanmar in the country on humanitarian ground.

Bangladesh hosts over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district and most of them arrived there since 25 August 2017 after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and other rights groups dubbed it as "genocide".

Referring to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian external affairs minister reaffirmed India's steadfast and continued support to the government and the people of Bangladesh in combating the deadly virus.

Thanking Bangladesh for its "warm wishes" on India's election as a non-permanent member to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), he said, "We deeply value your support extended towards India's success at this election and look forward to a meaningful and a productive tenure at the UNSC".