india

Updated: Oct 01, 2019 22:35 IST

Days ahead of her visit to India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina that there was nothing to worry about the National Register of Citizens (NRC), according to a media report. Hasina is scheduled to make a four-day visit to India from October 3 to attend the India Economic Forum.

In addition to seeking investments, Hasina will hold a bilateral meeting with Modi on October 5. She will also meet President Ram Nath Kovind and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will call on her. Hasina raised the NRC issue with Modi when they met on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York last week, foreign minister AK Abdul Momen was quoted as saying by the BSS news agency. Momen quoted Hasina as saying that the NRC had become a “matter of great concern” for Bangladesh.

“There is nothing to be worried about such an issue as India and Bangladesh maintain very good relations,” Momen quoted Modi as saying after the meeting. “We can take care of the issues like the NRC and water-sharing very easily as the relations between Bangladesh and India are excellent.”

A statement issued by the external affairs ministry made no mention of NRC. Some 1.9 million were left out of the final NRC list, and Bangladesh has been concerned by BJP leaders’ statements that these people would be deported to Bangladesh.