PM Modi meets Yunus for the first time after regime change in Bangladesh
The talks marked the first highest level of engagement by India with the interim government in Dhaka since Sheikh Hasina fled Dhaka and sought asylum in New Delhi
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh chief advisor Muhammad Yunus met for the first time since a violent regime change took place in Dhaka last year, derailing their warm bilateral ties.
The much-awaited meeting took place on Friday on the sidelines of the sixth BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, media reports said. Nothing was immediately known on what the two leaders discussed.
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The meeting comes after Dhaka made a formal request for the meeting apparently to sort out the differences that have plagued their relations since Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh in August last year.
Hasina factor
The Friday talks marked the first highest level of engagement by India with the interim government in Dhaka since Hasina sought asylum in New Delhi.
Since then, relations between India and Bangladesh have nosedived both over New Delhi’s refusal to send back Hasina to Dhaka and rising incidents of attacks on the Hindu minority in that country.
The relationship took a turn for the worse when Yunus, during a trip to China, made a veiled threat about India’s north-eastern states being landlocked.
Right noises
On Thursday, Modi and Yunus were seated together at a dinner hosted on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit.
Yunus has said that Dhaka sent “formal letters” to India seeking Hasina's extradition to face a legal trial but received no official response from New Delhi.
Ahead of the BIMSTEC Summit, however, both countries made conciliatory noises.
Also read: ‘Offensive, dangerous’: Indian leaders slam Md Yunus’ 'guardian of ocean’ remark
In a letter to Yunus last month, Modi said that India remained committed to advancing its partnership with Bangladesh, driven by the common aspirations for peace, stability and prosperity, and based on mutual sensitivity to each other's interests and concerns.
On his part, Yunus told the BBC that Bangladesh's relationship with India was "always special", explaining that the fates of both countries are intertwined and cannot be separated.
Yunus reciprocates
"So, we always encourage everything to move forward in the best possible way," the Daily Star newspaper in Bangladesh quoted him as saying.
The chief adviser expressed confidence in the strong ties between the two countries. "We will continue to strengthen this relationship," he said, describing India as an important business partner for Bangladesh.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations. Its members are Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka.
