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No Bilateral Meeting with Yunus in Modi's BIMSTEC Schedule
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's engagements for the upcoming BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, but did not mention any planned bilateral meeting with Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus.
Modi will visit Bangkok from April 3-4 at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to attend the 6th BIMSTEC Summit, scheduled for April 4. This will be his third visit to Thailand.
Ahead of the summit, Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin expressed hope for a bilateral meeting between Prof. Yunus and Modi to address the strains in Bangladesh-India relations. Jashim emphasized that such a meeting could help move the relationship forward and reiterated that Dhaka was ready for the talks, awaiting a positive response from India.
Bangladesh had formally requested India through diplomatic channels to arrange the meeting. Dr. Yunus is also scheduled to attend the summit during his two-day visit.
This will be the first in-person BIMSTEC Summit since the 4th meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2018. The 5th summit, held virtually in Colombo in March 2022, did not have physical participation from leaders.
The 6th Summit’s theme, "BIMSTEC – Prosperous, Resilient, and Open," will focus on enhancing cooperation, institutional development, and capacity building within the BIMSTEC framework.