Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens are India’s “internal issues”, but any uncertainty in India likely to affect its neighbouring countries, PTI reported on Sunday (Dec 22).

Momen hopes that the situation “cools down” in India and the country “can get out of it”, the report added.

“The CAB [now Citizenship Amendment Act] and the NRC [National Register of Citizens] are internal issues of India. Indian government assured us again and again that these are their domestic issues, they are doing it because of legal and other reasons,” Momen told PTI in Dhaka when asked about the ongoing protests in India.

The minister said Bangladesh trusts India, the report added.

“We are the number one friend of India,” Momen added. “So, if there is uncertainty in India, it is likely to affect its neighbours. When there was an economic downturn in the US, it affected many countries because we live in a global world. So our fear is that if there is some uncertainty in India, it might affect its neighbours.”

On Dec 11, Momen had said the proposed amendments could weaken India’s character as a secular nation. “India is historically a tolerant country which believes in secularism [but] their historic position will be weakened if they deviate from that,” he added.

The day before, Momen said that there are a very few countries with as good a track record on communal harmony as Bangladesh. “We have no minorities,” he claimed. “We are all equal. If he [Amit Shah] stayed in Bangladesh for a few months, he would see the exemplary communal harmony in our country.”