NEW DELHI, Dec 31 � Reacting cautiously to poll-related violence in neighbouring Bangladesh, India today gave a measured reaction, hoping for an amicable resolution of the political crisis.
The Ministry of External Affairs reaction came, even as an apprehensive Centre has started consulting the Governments of States bordering Bangladesh regarding the possibility of violence spilling over to the Indian side. The Centre is planning to seal the international border during the run- up to the polls and after that for a few days, as a precautionary measure.
Even an Sheikh Hasina�s Government action came under international scrutiny, New Delhi reminded Dhaka that as a neighbour of Bangladesh and as two countries, share such a long border, naturally neither India nor Bangladesh can remain unaffected or be indifferent to what happens in each other�s country.
�So, we have an interest in what happens in Bangladesh and I am sure Bangladesh has a similar interest in what happens in India. That is because at one level the destinies of our two peoples and our countries are very closely linked, more than perhaps any other two countries in the region,� an official spokesman of Ministry of External Affairs said.
Meanwhile, fearing a spill over of violence along the international border with Bangladesh, Union Home Secretary, Anil Goswami rushed to Kolkata and held a high-level meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday. Top officials of BSF briefed the meeting.
The meeting that lasted for over three hours ended with the decision to seal the Indo-Bangladesh border on the poll day.
Later, State Home Secretary, Basudeb Banerjee told newsmen that substantial part of the meeting was about Bangladesh and the palpable tensions prevailing there. He said that there was an apprehension of violence spilling over to Indian towns villages located along the international border.
Sources said that vigil along the international border in North-East includingAssam have been intensified.
