Bangladesh, India foreign minister-level talk in New York as Yunus-Modi meeting ruled out
Bangladesh's Foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain will meet his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, but there will be no meeting between Chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'Both will be in New York, but not at the same time,' said Adviser Touhid Hossain on Saturday, explaining that PM Modi is expected to depart before Dr. Yunus arrives, making a meeting between the two leaders unlikely.
Touhid Hossain confirmed that a meeting with Jaishankar is almost certain, though he did not specify the timing.
Speculation had circulated about a potential meeting between the Chief Adviser and the Indian Prime Minister, with some media reports from India suggesting that New Delhi had declined Dhaka’s request for the meeting. When asked whether the meeting's cancellation was due to recent comments from Bangladesh not being well-received by India, Hossain downplayed any significant diplomatic friction.
'If someone didn’t like what was said, it’s no reason to be overly concerned,' he said, adding that such issues do not alter the fundamental relationship between the two countries. 'We may not like everything said from their side, and vice versa, but this doesn’t change the fact that we are neighbors, and neighbors don’t change.'
Hossain emphasized that ongoing discussions between the two nations are essential given the number of important bilateral issues. 'Neither India nor Bangladesh has any alternative but to continue dialogue,' he concluded, downplaying the significance of the Yunus-Modi meeting not taking place.
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