NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh on Tuesday summoned each other’s envoys to lodge protests over recent incidents that have impacted bilateral relations, even as security personnel prevented right-wing Hindu nationalist protesters from marching to the Bangladeshi mission in New Delhi, reports said.

According to Hindustan Times, Indian high commissioner Pranay Verma was summoned to the foreign ministry in Dhaka by foreign secretary Asad Alam Siam in the morning to protest “regrettable incidents” outside the Bangladesh high commission in New Delhi and the vandalisation of a visa centre in Siliguri.

Bangladesh high commissioner Riaz Hamidullah was “called in” by B Shyam, the joint secretary who heads the Bangladesh-Myanmar division of the external affairs ministry, in the evening and informed of the need for a proper investigation into the recent killing of Bangladeshi radical student leader Sharif Osman Hadi.

“Instead of jumping the gun and blaming India for Hadi’s death, there should be a thorough investigation to identify the perpetrators,” an unnamed official was quoted as saying. Discussion also centred on what Indian sources say were unsubstantiated allegations about an Indian hand in Hadi’s killing. The incident had triggered anti-India protests in Bangladesh, such as the attempt by a mob to storm the Indian assistant high commission in Chittagong last week.

The developments reflect fresh tensions between the two sides, further straining bilateral ties already at a low. This was the second time in 10 days that Mr Verma was summoned to the foreign ministry in Dhaka to lodge a protest. Mr Hamidullah had also been summoned to the external affairs ministry last week for a protest over the deteriorating security situation in Bangladesh.

A readout issued in Dhaka said the foreign ministry conveyed its “grave concern” to Verma over “regrettable incidents outside the perimeter of the Bangladesh high commission and residence in New Delhi” on Dec 20, and acts of vandalism at the Bangladesh visa centre in Siliguri on Dec 22 by “extremist elements”.

Bangladesh also expressed deep concern over violent protests staged outside the premises of the different diplomatic missions of Bangladesh in India. Both sides quibbled about who was more threatening.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal announced over the weekend that their members would protest outside the Bangladeshi mission on Tuesday over the recent lynching of a Hindu man named Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh. Das, a garment factory worker, was beaten to death, and his body was tied to a tree and burnt.

A large police contingent was posted near the Bangladeshi mission on Tuesday morning, and the protesters were stopped with barricades and later put into buses and taken away from the spot. No untoward incidents were reported during the protest.

Following a protest outside the Bangladesh high commission over Das’s killing late on Saturday night, India dismissed reports of a security breach at the mission as “misleading propaganda” and expressed concern at the “horrendous killing” of the Hindu man and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2025