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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to avoid rhetoric that could strain bilateral ties between New Delhi and Dhaka, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Modi met Yunus on Friday during his visit to Thailand. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok, was the first between the two leaders since Yunus took office in August.
BIMSTEC is a regional multilateral organisation established in 1997 comprising India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
At a press conference after the meeting between the two leaders, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the prime minister reiterated India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh to Yunus.
“He [Modi] underlined that India believed in a people-centric approach to the relationship and highlighted the cooperation between the two countries over a long period of time that has delivered tangible benefits to the people in both countries,” Misri said.
“He also underlined to Yunus India’s desire to forge a positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh based on a spirit of pragmatism,” the foreign secretary added. “The prime minister also urged in this regard that any rhetoric that vitiates bilateral environment is best avoided.”
Modi’s remarks came days after Yunus said that India’s northeastern states were landlocked and described his country as the “only guardian” for the Indian Ocean in the region.
“The eastern part of India, known as the seven sisters, is landlocked,” Yunus had told Chinese officials during his four-day visit to China that concluded on March 29. “They have no access to the ocean. We are the only guardians of the ocean in this region. This opens up huge possibilities.”
He added: “So this could be an extension of the Chinese economy. Build things, produce things, market things, bring things to China, bring it out to the whole rest of the world.”
Yunus said that one can go “anywhere from Bangladesh as the ocean is in our backyard”.
China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region has long been a cause of concern for New Delhi.
On Friday, Misri said that Modi also told Yunus about the need to maintain border security and stability between the two countries through the prevention of illegal border crossings and strict enforcement of the law.
“The prime minister also underlined India’s concerns related to safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, and expressed his expectations that the government of Bangladesh would ensure their security, including by thoroughly investigating all cases of atrocities committed against them,” he added.
Yunus, a Nobel laureate economist, took over as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government three days after Sheikh Hasina resigned as the prime minister and fled to India on August 5.
Hasina fled following several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been in power for 16 years and is considered a close ally of New Delhi.
Yunus’ government has said that it had sent “formal letters” requesting New Delhi to extradite Hasina but received “no official response” in the matter.
Following the collapse of the Hasina government, several parts of Bangladesh reported incidents of violence against religious minorities.
Modi had urged Yunus in August to ensure the safety of Hindus and other minorities. Yunus, on his part, had claimed at the time that reports of attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh had been exaggerated.
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