The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that the matter has been taken up with the Bangladeshi government at the highest level. While officials did not disclose the exact nature of the threat, it has been described as a serious security issue involving India’s diplomatic mission. No immediate retaliatory measures were announced, with officials characterising the move as a diplomatic protest pending further clarification from Dhaka.

The summons comes a day after remarks by Hasnat Abdullah, a leader of Bangladesh’s National Citizen Party (NCP), at a public rally in Dhaka. Without naming India directly, Abdullah warned that any attempt to destabilise Bangladesh would invite consequences beyond its borders. He suggested that Dhaka could support separatist elements in India’s northeastern region, often referred to as the “Seven Sisters,” a statement that drew sharp attention in New Delhi.

Abdullah’s comments followed a recent attack on Sharif Usman Hadi, spokesperson of the Islamic group Inqilab Manch and an independent election candidate, who was shot at by unidentified assailants in Dhaka. Bangladeshi media reports noted that Hadi had earlier shared a controversial map depicting a “Greater Bangladesh” that included parts of India’s northeast, intensifying sensitivities around the incident.

The diplomatic démarche also coincided with India’s Victory Day commemorations marking the 1971 war and Bangladesh’s liberation. While Dhaka publicly spoke of improving ties on the occasion, bilateral relations have remained strained since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government last year.

Ties have further deteriorated after a Bangladeshi tribunal sentenced Hasina in absentia and sought her extradition from India, a demand New Delhi has declined. With elections approaching in Bangladesh, Indian officials are closely watching rising anti-India rhetoric, viewing it as a complicating factor in already fragile relations.