Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has called for dialogue with political parties, as well as religious and student leaders to forge a strong national unity.

He is sitting with student leaders at the state guesthouse Jamuna this evening as part of the initiative, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said at a briefing held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The chief adviser will hold a dialogue with the leaders of major political parties on Wednesday and religious groups on Thursday, he said.

“The reason behind the dialogue is to forge a national unity he will call for during the meetings.”

This fresh initiative comes as tensions are growing between Bangladesh and India following Monday's attack by a Hindu religious group on the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, Tripura.

India, however, regretted the incident while Bangladesh resented the violent attack on its mission.  

On Tuesday, the foreign ministry summoned Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma for a formal protest.

At the briefing, mentioning that Indian media is propagating against Bangladesh over the persecution of members from different religious communities, Shafiqul urged international human rights organisations to look into the issue.

When asked about the strained relations between the two countries, the press secretary said Bangladesh wants to maintain good ties with India based on equity and fairness.