India was aware of the growing anti-Sheikh Hasina protests in Bangladesh beforehand, but at the time, there was little it could do, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has stated.

According to a report by The Hindu on March 22, Jaishankar shared this information with India’s Parliamentary Consultative Committee on External Affairs during a meeting where members directly discussed India’s foreign policy. The discussion primarily focused on the situations in Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

Jaishankar revealed that India had been aware of the rising public dissatisfaction against Sheikh Hasina as early as August of the previous year. However, despite this knowledge, India was unable to take significant action as its influence over Hasina was limited. He claimed that India could only offer advice to her.

During the meeting, Jaishankar also referenced an interview with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who had urged the Bangladeshi military not to act against unarmed civilians. Türk had warned that if Bangladesh’s forces took action against civilians, the country could face a ban from UN peacekeeping missions.

Additionally, committee members discussed China’s growing influence in neighboring countries, questioning Jaishankar about India's plans to counter China's presence in Bangladesh, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Nepal over the next decade.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar stated that the possibility of a meeting between Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand was still under consideration. Earlier, Indian media had reported that no such meeting was scheduled.