Khaleda’s legal consultant Carlile denied entry into India

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s legal consultant Lord Alexander Carlile was denied entry into India on Wednesday for not having obtained the appropriate Indian visa.

Carlile, a British national, arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday without having obtained the appropriate Indian visa, said official spokesperson at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

His intended activity in India was incompatible with the purpose of his visit as mentioned in his visa application, said the official.

“It was therefore decided to deny him entry into India upon arrival,” the spokesperson said in response to a query on denial of entry of Carlile into India.

It was reported earlier that he is unlikely to get entry into India as the country ‘does not want to see any harm’ in its ongoing friendly relations with Bangladesh.

Indian High Commission in Dhaka made a strong recommendation to New Delhi seeking non-entry of Lord Carlile who reportedly also sided with war criminals in the past, a diplomatic source in New Delhi said.

He was supposed to visit New Delhi and deliver speech through a press conference at Foreign Correspondents Club on July 13 which was cancelled.

Diplomatic sources said Carlile wants to criticise Bangladesh’s court verdicts and might make statement against the Bangladesh government using India’s land.

Bangladesh has been maintaining a policy of not allowing anybody to use its land by anybody against India.

Being informed about Carlile’s plan, government officials had a meeting with officials of Indian High Commission in Dhaka and conveyed its observations, said a diplomatic source.

Both sides agreed that if Carlile makes any statement against Bangladesh government from New Delhi, it might create a problem in Dhaka-Delhi relations.

Lord Carlile, a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, is a barrister and one of the leading legal experts in the UK.

He was appointed by the UK wing of the party to advise Khaleda’s legal team on 36 cases against Khaleda, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced on March 20.

The announcement came less than two months after Khaleda was sentenced to five years in jail in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.