Realistic approach needed to tackle Rohingya issue, not strong condemnation: FS

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Thursday said India’s goal was to see how the Rohingyas could go back to their place of origin, contending that the crisis should be addressed through a realistic approach rather than doing strong condemnation.

He said India had already voiced its concerns over the gravity of the crisis and held “very high level conversations” with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

“The fact that there is an exodus of a large number of people from the Rakhine state in Bangladesh is clearly a matter of concern. Our objective will be to see how they can go back to their place of origin. That is not easy,” he said.

The foreign secretary was responding to a question on the crisis at an event organised by the Carnegie India here.

“We feel that this situation is better addressed through pactical measures and constructive conversation rather than doing very strong condemnation. We need a lot more sober, realistic (and) locally sensitive approach,” Jaishankar said.

India has nearly 40,000 Rohingya refugees settled in the regions of Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.

In a communication to all states, the Union home ministry had said the rise of terrorism in last few decades has become a serious concern for most nations as illegal migrants are prone to getting recruited by terrorist organisations.