Bangladesh Seeks To Arrange Meeting For PM Modi-Yunus Talks At BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok: Report

Bangladesh has approached India to arrange a meeting between its Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangkok in the first week of April, news agency ANI reported, stating that the duo will likely visit Thailand from April 2-4 to attend the sixth BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.

Foreign Affairs Adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh, Md Touhid Hossain, told ANI, “We have made a diplomatic approach to India to hold a bilateral meeting between our two leaders at the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit.”

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on March 28.

Earlier in February, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with Hossain on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Conference in Oman. The talks were focused on the bilateral relationship between two countries and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

“Met Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain of the Interim Government of Bangladesh. Conversation was focused on our bilateral relationship, as also on (BIMSTEC),” Jaishankar wrote on X.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry had also issued a statement, underlining that the two sides discussed various bilateral issues of mutual concern and interest.

Recalling their last meeting on the sidelines of UNGA in September 2024, both sides noted that since then the two countries have participated in various bilateral engagements—Foreign Office Consultations between Bangladesh and India at the level of Foreign Secretaries was conducted in Dhaka on 9th December 2024, and the Energy Adviser of Bangladesh participated at the India Energy Week events in New Delhi on 10-11 February 2025, among others, the statement read.

India and Bangladesh recognised the challenges the two neighbors face in terms of bilateral relations and discussed the necessity to work together to address those, the statement said.

Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser emphasised the importance of initiating the discussion for renewal of the Ganges Water Treaty, the statement further said.

According to ANI, he also highlighted the importance of holding the meeting of the SAARC Standing Committee and requested consideration of the Indian side in this regard.

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