India and Bangladesh had their first high-level engagement in person since former PM Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in August in the form of a bilateral meeting between foreign minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart, Md Touhid Hossain, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.
While Jaishankar mentioned in a post on X that they had focused on bilateral ties, he is learnt to have reiterated India’s emphasis on Bangladesh restoring law and order and ensuring the safety of minorities, while reaffirming India’s commitment to work with a peaceful and stable neighbour.
According to Dhaka, issues of mutual interests were discussed.
While there had been much speculation whether PM Modi would meet Bangladesh govt’s chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, New Delhi said there was no possibility of it with the former about to embark on his return journey by the time Yunus landed in New York.
India’s first bilateral engagement with the new regime in Bangladesh took place amidt frayed ties over a series of hostile remarks against India by the interim govt’s top functionaries, including Yunus and Hossain. In an interview earlier this week, Hossain had said it was not an ideal situation for the two govts to say that their relationship was good at a time when people in Bangladesh harboured anti-India sentiments.
Acknowledging the problem is important for addressing it. We will definitely try to sort out the tension and maintain working relations (with India). But the relationship will have to be based on mutual respect and fairness,” Md Touhid Hossain said just before meeting Jaishankar. Despite India’s deep concern over the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh, Yunus has twice said that the issue about attacks on minorities is exaggerated. He has also called upon India to not remain “captivated by the narrative that portrays every other political party except Awami League as Islamist” or that Bangladesh was safe with only Hasina at the helm.
New Delhi is also wary of the Dhaka’s efforts to, as Hossain mentioned in his interview earlier this week, build a normal relationship with Pakistan after Hasina’s exit. Yunus has sought a revival of SAARC, which remains stalled because of India’s opposition to crossborder terrorism.
