News Brief
PM Modi Meets Muhammad Yunus In Thailand Amid Row Over 'Landlocked' Northeast Remarks
Head of Interim Government in Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus (X) (Representative Image)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (4 April) met Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in Thailand during the BIMSTEC Summit, Indian Express reported.
This marked their first meeting since Yunus assumed office following the removal of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Since Hasina’s ouster, aside from a congratulatory message sent by PM Modi to Yunus, bilateral engagement between India and Bangladesh had been muted.
They were also seen seated beside each other during the BIMSTEC leaders’ dinner held on Thursday night.
The meeting took place amid controversy over Yunus’s recent remarks.
In an apparent counter to Yunus' remarks, EAM Jaishankar, duirng the 20th BIMSTEC Ministerial meeting in Bangkok, said that India's Norteast is emerging as a "connectivity hub" for Southeast Asia.
“Our Northeast region in particular is emerging as a connectivity hub for the BIMSTEC, with a myriad network of roads, railways, waterways, grids and pipelines. The completion of the Trilateral Highway will connect India’s Northeast all the way to the Pacific Ocean, a veritable game-changer," Jaishankar said.
“We are conscious that our cooperation and facilitation are an essential prerequisite for the smooth flow of goods, services and people in this larger geography,” he said.
"Keeping this geo-strategic factor in mind, we have devoted increasing energies and attention to the strengthening of BIMSTEC in the last decade. We also believe that cooperation is an integrated outlook, not one subject to cherry picking," he added.
