NEW DELHI: India announced on Friday that foreign secretary Vikram Misri will visit Dhaka on December 9 for consultations, with the trip coming against the backdrop of strains in bilateral ties over the persecution of the Hindu minority in the neighbouring country.

“The foreign secretary is scheduled to visit Bangladesh for foreign office consultations on December 9. He will meet his counterpart and there will be several other meetings,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.

The consultations, which are led by the two foreign secretaries, are part of India’s structured interactions with the Bangladeshi side. “We look forward to these to this meeting,” Jaiswal said.

HT first reported on Wednesday that Misri was set to visit Bangladesh next week, the first trip by a senior Indian functionary since the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus came to power in August.

The visit comes at a time when India-Bangladesh relations are under great strain, with protests in several states bordering the neighbouring country over the targeting of the Hindu minority and the arrest of Bangladeshi monk Chinmoy Krishna Das on charges of sedition.

Jaiswal responded to a question on the arrest and denial of bail to Das by saying India expects a fair and transparent legal process in the case.

“As far as the situation on the ground regarding the individual that you mentioned, we want to reiterate our position that they have legal rights and we hope that these legal rights will be respected and that the trial will be fair and transparent,” he said.

India has in recent days said it expects the relevant legal processes underway in Bangladesh will be executed in a fair, just and transparent manner, ensuring the legal rights of Das.

Relations between India and Bangladesh have been strained since former premier Sheikh Hasina stepped down in the face of widespread protests and the caretaker administration headed by Yunus assumed office.

India’s top leadership has conveyed its concerns to Dhaka over the targeting of minorities, especially Hindus, and their shrines and properties in Bangladesh.

Last week, India said the interim government in Bangladesh must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, even as it expressed concern at the “surge” of extremist rhetoric and increasing incidents of violence against Hindus.

The protests on the Indian side peaked on Monday when a large group of protesters barged into the Bangladeshi consulate in Agartala, ransacked property and desecrated the Bangladeshi flag. The external affairs ministry described the breach as “deeply regrettable” and increased security for all Bangladeshi missions in India.

On Tuesday afternoon, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry summoned Indian high commissioner Pranay Verma to lodge a protest over the Agartala incident. Subsequently, Bangladesh asked its senior-most diplomats in Agartala and Kolkata to come to Dhaka for consultations.