There is no need to speculate about the recent visit of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Parag Jain to Dhaka, Prime Minister’s Information and Broadcasting Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman said on Tuesday.

“It was simply a visit and there was nothing secret about it,” he said at a press conference on the progress of various government activities at the Secretariat.

“He came to Dhaka from China. It is a visit. He will sit with his counterpart here. If the government thinks it necessary, it will issue a statement. But there is nothing to speculate about. There is nothing secret here,” Zahed said.

The adviser noted that Bangladesh’s intelligence chief had also visited India earlier.

On Bangladesh-India relations, Zahed said the two countries had to engage with each other and realign their relationship as the two neighbours could not be changed.

“As the high commissioner said, we cannot change our neighbours. So, we have to engage. We have to realign the relationship. Earlier, the relationship was with one individual. Now, it has to be with the people of Bangladesh,” he said.

Zahed said India had also expressed its desire to establish relations with the people of Bangladesh.

“So, there has to be engagement between the intelligence agencies of India and Bangladesh. The way Indian agencies and institutions operated in Bangladesh and the attitude they showed in the past can no longer continue,” he said.

He added that bilateral relations must be based on how an independent and sovereign country should deal with another country.

Asked whether the issue of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina addressing a press conference in New Delhi on August 5 was discussed during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s meeting with Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi, Zahed said Bangladesh had strongly raised the matter.

“From the foreign minister’s briefing, I understand that Bangladesh strongly raised the issue. The statement issued by Bangladesh also made it clear that we are very tough on this matter,” he said.

Zahed said that although the Indian side had stated in its briefing that its government had no connection with the event, there had been “endorsement of it in one form or another”.

He added that the home minister had also spoken about the issue.