DHAKA: PM Narendra Modi and Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus will hold talks on the margins of the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand on April 3-4, according to reports quoting a source in Yunus’ office.
While Dhaka has sought a meeting between the two, New Delhi continues to maintain that it is looking into the request, not ruling it out altogether. If Modi and Yunus meet, it will be their first in-person meeting since Yunus took over as chief adviser last year in Aug, following the ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina.
“It is expected that they (Modi and Yunus) will meet, but I don’t have any confirmation at this moment. We have requested for the meeting officially. We have reasonable grounds to remain hopeful. There is a high possibility that the meeting will take place,” said Khalilur Rahman, Yunus’s high representative on Rohingya and priority issues.
Bangladesh will take over as the chair of BIMSTEC at the summit. Rahman said Yunus’s remarks in China about India’s landlocked north-east states was made with “honest intentions”.
“If different interpretations are provided, we cannot prevent it,” he said.
Indian govt sources said Modi’s bilateral engagements are still being worked out. The PM will have a meeting with his Thailand counterpart and host Paetongtarn Shinawatra Thursday before participating in a dinner where he will be joined by other BIMSTEC heads of state. The summit will take place Friday morning. Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Md Jashim Uddin also said Dhaka certainly hoped the meeting would happen. Myanmar military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing is also said to have confirmed his participation in the summit. A bilateral with him too is not ruled out, as Myanmar struggles to deal with a devastating earthquake last week.
Modi will also call on Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as Rama X, and Queen Suthida on Friday.