NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the sixth BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.
The high-level dialogue took place after Dhaka had sought a one-on-one discussion to resolve outstanding issues, although Modi’s official schedule in Thailand did not initially include such a meeting.
PM @narendramodi met @ChiefAdviserGOB of Bangladesh on the margins of BIMSTEC Summit today in Bangkok.
PM underlined 🇮🇳’s desire for constructive relations with 🇧🇩 based on mutual respect & sensitivity. PM also underlined the need to ensure the safety & security of Hindus in… pic.twitter.com/B1PJvJOxK6
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) April 4, 2025
Tensions between the two countries have escalated in recent months due to concerns over attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and India’s decision to grant asylum to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Relations were further strained following Yunus’s remarks on India’s northeastern states during his address at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in China.
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On Thursday, both leaders were seen seated together at a dinner reception on the summit’s sidelines. The talks marked the first top-level engagement between India and Bangladesh’s interim government since Hasina fled to India in August last year, after a massive student-led uprising toppled her 16-year Awami League rule.
Yunus has alleged that Dhaka sent official extradition requests to India for Hasina to stand trial but has received no formal response from New Delhi.
In a letter to Yunus last month, PM Modi reaffirmed India’s commitment to deepening ties with Bangladesh, emphasizing that the partnership must be built on peace, stability, shared prosperity, and mutual respect for each other’s concerns.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional bloc comprising seven South and Southeast Asian nations, representing 1.73 billion people and a combined GDP of $5.2 trillion. Thailand currently chairs the organization, and this year’s summit was the first in-person gathering of leaders since the 2018 Kathmandu Summit.
