“We want to make it clear that we didn’t discuss the so-called humanitarian corridor with the UN or any other entity,” he said over reports about the UN humanitarian corridor to Rakhine State of Myanmar through Cox’s Bazar.

Alam said, “Our position is that, should there be an UN-led humanitarian support to the state of Rakhine, Bangladesh would be willing to provide logistics support.”

According to UNDP, he said the Rakhine state is facing an acute humanitarian situation.

“Moreover, we are concerned that persistence of suffering may lead to further inflows of people from Rakhine into Bangladesh, which we cannot afford,” the press secretary warned.

He said the interim government also believes that the UN-supported humanitarian aid would help stabilise Rakhine and create conditions for the return of the refugees to Myanmar.

Given the present conditions, he said, the only viable route for delivery of aid to Rakhine is through Bangladesh.

“However, there has not been a decision on the provision of aid to Rakhine. We are in touch with the concerned parties in this regard. In due course, we will consult relevant stakeholders in Bangladesh,” Alam said.

He said as regards the reports of involvement of a major power, “these are pure and unadulterated propaganda”.

“We have seen a constant barrage of malicious disinformation spread against Bangladesh in recent months, which is continuing. This sort of propaganda is no different,” the press secretary said.