No Clarity Yet About One-On-One Meeting Between PM Modi And Muhammad Yunus: Foreign Secretary To Parliamentary Panel

During a discussion on India’s relations with Bangladesh on Wednesday, India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, told a parliamentary panel.

That there is still no clarity on when Muhammad Yunus would have a formal meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When asked whether a meeting would occur during the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand, Misri reportedly told members of the standing committee on external affairs headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor that it was yet to be known.

Multiple members also expressed concerns about the violence against minorities in the neighbouring nation and whether India would formally address it with the caretaker government in Bangladesh. In a meeting last week, external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar also said that no forward discussions with Bangladesh could take place on the matter because there is no elected government, only a caretaker one.

Government officials also informed the committee that the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council released a press statement on March 12 that violence against religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous communities has continued. They also said that from August 4 to December 31, 2024, a total of 2,184 incidents of attacks targeting minorities were reported.

It is also learnt that the members wanted to know from Indian officials if they were concerned about or had any knowledge about the pressure Bangladesh is under from nations like the United States that want to see elections conducted. The foreign secretary did not respond to this question.

“Chief adviser Muhammad Yunus has given indications regarding holding the national elections in December 2025, preparations for which have been started by BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and others. The timeline of reforms before elections still remains unclear, and there is growing pressure from large parties for early elections,” the committee was told, sources said.

The committee chairman opined that the meeting was satisfactory for all members, with most questions answered in detail by ministry officials.

“It was a very fruitful meeting, and obviously, you want to focus on bettering the relationship with Bangladesh. There were questions about the fencing, the influx of migrants from Bangladesh because of the porous border, and India’s strait with the neighbouring nation. All these questions were answered in great detail by the FS,” Dr Shashi Tharoor, chairman of the committee, told News18 after the meeting.

It is also learnt that members from West Bengal, in particular, were concerned about the situation in Bangladesh and its impact on them, given the possible surge of illegal migrants from the neighbouring country.

Officials from the ministry of external affairs gave the committee a detailed background on India-Bangladesh ties over the years.

“India-Bangladesh relations are underpinned by historical, cultural, and linguistic ties, apart from shared efforts and sacrifices made during the liberation of Bangladesh. These have been framed in line with mutual interests and priorities since the formation of the interim government in Bangladesh in August 2024, with which we have continued our constructive engagement. India is in favour of a democratic, stable, peaceful, and inclusive Bangladesh, and our approach to bilateral relations is people-centric. We have engaged with the interim government on issues of strategic concern and regional security, as well as addressing rising extremism, attacks against minorities, and economic growth,” the government conveyed to the members of parliament.

The MPs were also briefed by the government that while India continues to engage with Bangladesh on various issues, including mutual interests and priorities, it is crucial that the government of Bangladesh pays due attention to the security and strategic concerns in the region, on which the GoI continues to work with its neighbours.