Yunus-Modi meeting in Bangkok?
The sixth summit of the Bay of Bengal regional cooperation alliance BIMSTEC is going to be held in Thailand in April. The head of the interim government of Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are meeting at this conference. The Indian Prime Minister is scheduled to attend the conference as a member country. Apart from this, Modi may also have a meeting with Dr. Yunus on the sidelines of the conference.
Although no source has confirmed the matter of the meeting, Foreign Affairs Advisor Towhid Hossain confirmed to our time that the Chief Advisor will go to Bangkok. He said that there is still quite some time left. Nothing can be said definitively. However, it is certain that the Chief Advisor will attend the BIMSTEC summit.
In the last week of January in Switzerland, Thai Prime Minister Petchthorn Shinawatra confirmed the BIMSTEC summit to be held in Bangkok in April in a meeting with Dr. Yunus. The summit is scheduled to be held on April 4. Bangladesh will take over as the next chairman of BIMSTEC at that conference. Dr. Yunus said he was eagerly waiting to take over as the chairman of BIMSTEC during the organization’s planned summit.
The BIMSTEC summit was scheduled to be held in September last year. But it was postponed due to internal political unrest in Thailand. Preparations were underway for Dr. Yunus, the chief advisor to the interim government, to go to Thailand as his first foreign visit. At that time, Foreign Affairs Advisor Towhid Hossain said that a meeting could be held between the chief advisor and the Indian Prime Minister on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit.
After the BIMSTEC summit was postponed, the possibility of a Dr. Yunus-Modi meeting arose on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. However, despite visiting the United States at almost the same time, Dr. Yunus did not meet Modi. At that time, Foreign Affairs Advisor Towhid Hossain said that the two leaders would not meet because they were not present in New York at the same time.
Six months have passed since the change of power in Bangladesh through the student-people’s uprising on August 5. Bangladesh’s relations with India have also deteriorated. The fugitive Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s stay in India and her provocative statements and statements from there are also reasons for the cooling of relations between the two countries. In the last six months, the high commissioners of the two countries have been summoned several times. Dhaka has asked for Hasina’s return through diplomatic letters. But New Delhi has not yet responded to the letter. Last week, due to Hasina’s provocative statements, students and the public vandalized the houses of Awami League leaders across the country, including Sheikh Mujib’s house at 32 in Dhanmondi. The acting high commissioner of India in Dhaka was summoned and given a message to stop Hasina. India also summoned the Bangladeshi envoy in Delhi in response.
In such an atmosphere, political analysts are wondering what could be discussed in the Dr. Yunus-Modi meeting. Although the interim government has demanded Hasina’s extradition to Bangladesh, Delhi is not willing to release her. If Modi-Yunus meets, it will be impossible to avoid discussing this issue, the concerned people believe.
Recently, both countries have given a message to take forward normal relations. It is expected that the Dr. Yunus-Modi meeting will also have a message to keep relations normal. India has already given a message to take relations forward. Bangladesh has also said that Dhaka will take relations forward on the basis of equality. It has also been said that India-Bangladesh relations will not be stuck on just one issue.
Do Follow: greenbanglaonline24
