Vikram Misri, Indian Foreign Secretary today said that his discussions with Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Touhid Hussain gave an opportunity to take stock of the relations between both the countries.

The Foreign Secretary arrived on an Indian Air Force jet for a day-long visit on Tuesday to take part in high level talks with the Foreign Adviser, his Bangladeshi counterpart and other high level officials amid strained relationship between both the countries.

After meeting Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Touhid Hussain, Vikram Misri told the media that the discussions have given both of them the opportunity to take stock of the relations and that he appreciates the opportunity to have had a frank, candid and constructive exchange of views with all his interlocutors.

He added that both of them also discussed recent developments and he has conveyed India’s concerns including those related to the safety and welfare of minorities. He mentioned that they also discussed regrettable incidents of attacks on cultural and religious properties.

Notably, this is the first time that an Indian official is visiting Bangladesh for high-level talks since Sheikh Hasina was ousted as Prime Minister on August 5.

After his arrival in Dhaka, Vikram Misri also met his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin and held one-on-one talks before the formal meeting with delegates from both sides.

The diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh have faced testing times since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina following a massive anti-government protest in August. Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus took over as Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser days after Sheikh Hasina fled to India.

Furthermore, ties between both countries worsened after multiple incidents of violence in Bangladesh targeting the Hindu minority citizens. Reportedly, there has been a sharp rise in incidents of mob violence, vandalism of property, and desecration at places of worship targeting the minorities. Also, there has even been a crackdown on Hindu priests by the interim government in Bangladesh, and two Hindu priests are being prosecuted and there are concerns over their captivity.

The AAP announced its second list of candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections scheduled to be held in February. The incumbent MLA from Patparganj, Manish Sisodia has been moved to Jangpura, while the new inductee Avadh Ojha will contest from the former Delhi Minister’s constituency. 

Manish Sisodia was first elected to the Patparganj seat, which is part of the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, in the December 2013 Delhi Assembly election, after defeating his BJP rival Nakul Bhardwaj. Furthermore, in the February 2015 elections, Sisodia defeated the BJP’s Vinod Kumar Binny and in the last 2020 elections, he emerged victorious against the saffron party’s Ravinder Singh Negi.

According to the candidates list, 18 of the total 20 seats have new faces, including Ojha, a renowned UPSC coach and educator who joined the AAP on December 2. Avadh Ojha originally hails from Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.

Reportedly, the decision to field Avadh Ojha from Patparganj was on the basis of the changed demography of the seat with a focus on the Purvanchali community, which makes up roughly 42 per cent of the city’s electorate.

Notably, this community has the power to sway results in nearly half of Delhi’s 70 Assembly constituencies, including major areas like Burari, Laxmi Nagar, and Dwarka. The Purvanchal region includes the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh and the western end of Bihar.

Other names on the list include Mukesh Goel, sitting councillor and AAP’s key strategist in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, from Adarsh Nagar; and Punardeep Singh Sawhney, son of sitting MLA Parlad Singh Sawhney, from Chandni Chowk.

In addition, the list also includes Jintender Singh Shunty (Shahdara) and Surinder Pal Singh Bittu (Timarpur), who recently quit the BJP to join the AAP.

Jitender Singh Shunty replaces sitting MLA and Speaker in the outgoing Assembly Ram Niwas Goel, and Surinder Pal Singh Bittu has been fielded in place of Dilip Pandey, AAP’s chief whip in the House.

Earlier, the AAP unveiled the first list of 11 candidates, which featured six leaders who recently joined the party from BJP and Congress. Notably, former BJP leaders Brahm Singh Tanwar, Anil Jha, and BB Tyagi, along with ex-Congress leaders Chaudhry Zubair Ahmad, Veer Dhingan, and Sumesh Shokeen, have been given tickets to contest the upcoming polls.

The Ministry of External Affairs today affirmed that the Indian embassy in Damascus is in touch with the Indian community. It also called for a peaceful and inclusive process of power transfer in Syria after rebels took over the control of the capital of Damascus, marking the end of President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Issuing a statement, MEA said that they are monitoring the situation in Syria in light of the on-going developments. It further underlined the need for all parties to work towards preserving the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. It added that they advocate a peaceful and inclusive Syrian-led political process respecting the interests and aspirations of all sections of Syrian society. The MEA also assured that the embassy in Damascus is in contact with the Indian community for their safety and security.

The rebel faction in Syria on Sunday announced that they had seized control of the capital, Damascus, in a swift offensive, and proclaimed the end of Presidential Bashar al-Assad’s decade-long tyranny. 

Reportedly, the 59-year-old autocratic leader fled the war-hit country and landed in Moscow where he was given asylum following the toppling of his 24-year-old regime by opposition forces in a lightning offensive.

The rebel factions, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), declared Damascus liberated, mentioning the freedom of their city and the fall of the tyrant Assad. Subsequently, the Syrian capital witnessed celebrations as fighters and a section of residents took to the streets cheering.

Notably, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group commenced its lightning offensive two weeks ago, capturing the key cities of Aleppo, Homs, Hama before proceeding to Damascus unopposed and seizing control of the Syrian capital on Sunday. Meanwhile, government forces loyal to Assad were forced to retreat as rebels captured control of key cities one by one, in a move that challenged the Assad family’s nearly six decades of autocratic rule.