Staff Correspondent
Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may hold their
first bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the upcoming BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand, likely to take place
in November.
“The bilateral meeting is expected to be held during the BIMSTEC summit, which is tentatively scheduled
for next month,” said Foreign Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain at a media briefing at the foreign ministry.
The Chief Adviser is scheduled to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit, initially planned for September 4, but the event was
postponed.
Thailand is set to host the next summit while Bangladesh will take responsibility as the next chair of
BIMSTEC there.
Dispelling speculation, no meeting between the heads of government of Bangladesh and India took
place during the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York due to schedule conflicts of
the two leaders.
When asked about the outcome of his meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar on
the sidelines of the UNGA, Hossain said both sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining strong
relations between the two neighbouring countries.
“We agreed that establishing good relations between our two countries is crucial for the betterment of
the two people,” he observed.
The foreign adviser mentioned that the two sides discussed normalizing the visa process for Bangladeshi
citizens traveling to India.
"He (Jaishankar) expressed the hope that the visa system would be restored soon," Hossain added.
Additionally, he said, they reviewed Bangladesh’s internal security situation.
"I assured him that the security situation has significantly improved, and no foreign country has raised
concerns in recent times," Hossain noted.
Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have been strained since the fall of the previous Awami League
government while ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took shelter in India after fleeing the country.
Yunus, Modi may meet in BIMSTEC summit in Nov
