Bangladesh Seeks Modi-Yunus Talks at BIMSTEC Bangkok Summit

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.

The two leaders will reportedly be present in Thailand between April 2-4 for the sixth BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.

Md Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh's interim government Foreign Affairs Adviser, said, "We've taken diplomatic steps to arrange a bilateral meeting between our leaders on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit."

Muhammad Yunus is also scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on March 28.

Earlier in February, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had met Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Hossain during the Indian Ocean Conference in Oman.

Jaishankar informed that their conversation was about the bilateral relationship between the two countries and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

He tweeted on X, "Met with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain of the Interim Government of Bangladesh. Discussed our bilateral relationship and BIMSTEC."

The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry stated that both nations discussed bilateral issues of mutual concern.

Looking back at their last encounter during the UNGA in September 2024, they remembered that since then, both nations have been involved in various bilateral activities, such as the Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) held on December 9, 2024, in Dhaka and Bangladesh's Energy Adviser attending the India Energy Week events on February 10-11, 2025, in New Delhi, among other interactions.

Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser stressed the need to begin talks on renewing the Ganges Water Treaty and urged India to consider holding the SAARC Standing Committee meeting.