New Delhi:
The websites of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have removed the transcripts of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's remarks on Bangladesh.
During an interaction with five select print Editors earlier this week, the PM had said that 25 per cent of Bangladeshis are under the influence of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, or the ISI.
"...with Bangladesh, our relations are quite good. But we must reckon that at least 25 per cent of the population of Bangladesh swears by the Jamiat-ul-Islami and they are very anti-Indian, and they are in the clutches, many times, of the ISI..." the PM had said while speaking to the Editors. (
Read: Full transcript of PM's Q&A session with Editors)
NDTV has learnt that the PMO removed the controversial references in the transcript earlier today and the MEA was also instructed to do the same.
Sources told NDTV that these frank and candid remarks have evoked strong reactions from Bangladesh and as a result, the PMO decided to remove these comments from the transcript.
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna visits Dhaka later this week. The faux pas could have acted as a serious deterrent during the talks between the two neighbours.