India and Bangladesh had their first high-level engagement in particular person since former PM Sheikh Hasina’s ouster within the type of a bilateral assembly between overseas minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the continuing UNGA session.
Whereas Jaishankar solely stated in a put up on X that they centered on bilateral ties, he’s learnt to have reiterated India’s emphasis on restoration of regulation and order and security of minorities, whereas reaffirming India’s dedication to work with a peaceable, steady and peaceable Bangladesh.
Based on Dhaka, problems with mutual pursuits had been mentioned. Whereas there had been a lot hypothesis about whether or not PM Narendra Modi was going to satisfy Bangladesh Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, the Indian authorities stated there was no chance of a gathering between the leaders as Modi was about to embark on his return journey by the point Yunus arrived in New York. Yunus had a bilateral assembly with US President Joe Biden in New York on Tuesday.
The primary bilateral engagement with Bangladesh occurred in the course of strife in ties over a sequence of hostile remarks made by high functionaries of the interim authorities, together with Yunus and Hossain. Touhid had stated in an interview earlier this week that it’s not a great state of affairs for governments to say that the connection is sweet whereas individuals in Bangladesh have anti-India sentiments.
“Acknowledging the issue is essential for addressing it. We will certainly attempt to kind out the strain and keep working relations. The connection must be based mostly on mutual respect and equity,’’ he stated simply earlier than his assembly with Jaishankar.
Regardless of India’s deep concern over the security of Hindus, the chief advisor has twice stated that the difficulty about assaults on minorities is exaggerated. He has additionally known as upon India to not stay captivated by the “narrative that portrays each different political occasion besides Awami League as Islamist’’ or that Bangladesh is protected with solely Hasina on the helm.
India can be cautious of the interim authorities’s efforts to, as Hossain stated in an interview this week, construct a traditional relationship with Pakistan after Hasina’s exit. Yunus has sought a revival of SAARC, which stays stalled due to India’s opposition to cross-border terrorism, and studies from Dhaka say he’s prone to have a bilateral assembly with Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif in New York.
