International Desk

US Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Tuesday refused to give answers over how the Trump administration might decide on the fate of Bangladeshi minorities as these steps are subject to “negotiations with Bangladesh and diplomatic considerations.”

Indian media and a large section of politicians have been constantly trumping up allegations of widespread attacks on Bangladeshi Hindus, following the ouster of pro-Indian dictator Sheikh Hasina on 5 August last year.

Indian lobby groups have also been allegedly trying to influence US foreign policy regarding Bangladesh out of fear of losing largely one-sided Indian interests in its neighbouring country, and likely played a role in driving President Donald Trump’s pre-election concerns over “attacks on minority religious groups in Bangladesh.”

Early Tuesday, at a press briefing, a journalist referred to the concerns, and asked Spokesperson Tamm Bruce about Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s steps in this regard sixty-days into assuming office.

“Secretary Rubio, of course, follows through with his [Trump’s] vision and the nature of the choices that are made in that regard,” Tammy Bruce told the journalist in Washington, reports India-based Gujarat Samachar.

However, she refused to elaborate, asserting, “When it comes to again, negotiations, diplomatic considerations, and the conversations that those involve, and what might happen … I don’t want to presume here what the outcome will be. You don’t want me to do this either. I think the best step would be to….”

The journalist interrupted, requesting to raise another question over the issue, but, Tammy Bruce politely turned down the request.

“What I’m not going to answer is, diplomatic considerations, from government to government or attitudes and approaches when it comes to what’s happening in a certain country that belongs within a diplomatic kind of conversation,” she said, according to Yes Punjab, another Indian media outlet.

The comments follow US chief intelligence official Tulsi Gabbard’s largely unfounded and disparaging remarks against Bangladesh regarding the state of minorities in that country.

Earlier in New Delhi, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh “continues to remain a central focus area of concern” with that country.

Bangladesh’s interim government has strongly rejected remarks as “misleading” and “unsubstantiated.”