A recent Tiktok video claiming that Russia was the first country to recognise Bangladesh as a state has gone viral on the social media platform.
The video was uploaded on the video-sharing platform Tiktok on December 14. Within a week, more than 41 thousand Tiktok users liked the video.
Fact Check/ Verification
On December 16, 1971, Bangladesh got independence after 9 months of freedom fight. Bangladesh celebrates its victory on December 16. This year, the country celebrates 50 years of independence.
In 2014, during the visit of the former Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, there was a similar debate on which country recognized Bangladesh as an independent country first, Bhutan or India, after Tobgay handed over a text of the wireless message of Bhutan recognising Bangladesh as an independent country to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Clarifying the matter, Foreign Secretary Mohammad Shahidul Haque said that Bhutan recognized Bangladesh as an independent state in a telegram a few hours before India.
“Bhutan was the first country, there is no controversy about that. Both Bhutan and India had recognised Bangladesh as an independent country on December 6, 1971 but Thimphu’s announcement came hours ahead of India’s official recognition,” an article on The Hindu, quoted the then Foreign Secretary M. Shahidul Haque as saying.
Records available with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Russia suggest that Russia recognised Bangladesh as an independent country on January 25, 1972, almost a month after India and Bhutan recognised Bangladesh.
Conclusion
The claim that Russia was the first country to recognise Bangladesh as an independent country is false. Bhutan was the first to recognize Bangladesh, not Russia.
Result: False
Our Sources:
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itsrony98/video/7040724921676238107
Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Russia: https://bangladeshembassy.ru/bilateral-relations/
Daily Star: https://www.thedailystar.net/bhutan-was-first-to-recognise-bangladesh-54336
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