Dhaka– Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Jashim Uddin is reportedly set to exit his post after falling out of step with key members of the country’s interim government, including Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain, according to official sources on Wednesday.
A career diplomat, Jashim Uddin was appointed as the 27th Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh in September 2024, but has maintained a notably low profile in recent weeks. While the Yunus-led administration has not issued any public statement confirming his removal, insiders suggest rising internal tensions, particularly over foreign policy priorities, have sealed his fate.
In a striking departure from protocol, Secretary (East) Nazrul Islam has assumed several major responsibilities within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs based on verbal instructions from Advisor Touhid Hossain. According to Prothom Alo, one of Bangladesh’s leading dailies, Islam led the country’s delegation at a Foreign Secretary-level meeting with Japan in Tokyo on May 15—marking the first time in nearly 50 years that such a high-level meeting was conducted without the Foreign Secretary.
Sources further confirmed that Jashim Uddin has not attended any inter-ministerial meetings in the past 12 days, with other senior officials stepping in to represent the ministry. His absence and the redistribution of responsibilities point to a clear sidelining within the government.
Tensions reportedly peaked over disagreements regarding the handling of the Rohingya refugee crisis and the proposed Rakhine Humanitarian Corridor. Uddin is said to have opposed the initiative championed by Yunus and National Security Advisor Khalilur Rahman, which has also received United Nations backing. His stance aligned more closely with Bangladesh’s military leadership, which has expressed concern that the corridor could undermine national sovereignty and serve as a gateway for external non-state actors to infiltrate sensitive border areas. There are also fears that it could lead to an influx of refugees, further complicating repatriation efforts.
Some factions within the Bangladesh Army are particularly uneasy about the possibility of the United States using the humanitarian corridor to discreetly transfer non-lethal aid and supplies to the Arakan Army and People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) in Myanmar. These suspicions have added to growing unease over the policy’s strategic implications.
Security sources believe Yunus and NSA Khalilur Rahman acted decisively to orchestrate Uddin’s removal from his post amid mounting disagreements and policy clashes.
Adding to the rift was Jashim Uddin’s assertive stance during recent bilateral talks with Pakistan. At Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) held in Dhaka on April 17, Uddin led the Bangladeshi delegation and raised a $4.32 billion financial claim against Pakistan—Bangladesh’s share of the assets of undivided Pakistan prior to 1971. He also demanded $200 million in foreign aid owed to then-East Pakistan during the 1970 Bhola cyclone, one of the deadliest natural disasters in the region’s history.
His firm approach during these discussions—especially during a high-level diplomatic engagement with Pakistan after a 15-year gap—reportedly caused friction within both Bangladeshi and Pakistani diplomatic circles, further isolating him from key officials in Dhaka.
Observers note that Jashim Uddin’s increasingly marginalized role within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chief Advisor’s Office had become apparent in recent weeks, and his departure now appears imminent. (Source: IANS)
