The Prime Minister of India met with the head of the interim government of Bangladesh out of a regional summit in Bangkok on Friday, said the press office of the Bangladesh government, his first meeting since the expulsion of Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, last year.
The relations between the residents of South Asia, who were robust Bajo Hasina, have deteriorated since he fled the country in August in the face of the huge protests led by students and sought refuge in India.
Muhammad Yunus, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize who assumed the position of the main advisor of an interim government in Dhaka after the departure of Hasina, met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside the Bimstec summit in Bangkok, said the press office.
BimStec, or the Bengal Bay initiative for multisectoral technical and economic cooperation, also includes Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bután.
Public opinion in Bangladesh turned against India, in part, for his decision to provide sanctuary to Hasina. Nueva Delhi has not responded to Dhaka’s request to send it home for trial.
India has repeatedly urged Bangladesh to protect her minority Hindus, saying that they were being attacked in the Muslim majority since Yunus took over. Dhaka says that violence has been exaggerated and is not a community problem.
“Hope would be that this meeting began the process of rebuilding some commitment,” said Harsh Pant, head of foreign policy of the Observer Research Foundation, a group of Indian experts.
“I think at this point, simply stabilize the relationship should be priority.”
With the long cultural and business links, the two nations share a 4,000 km border (2,500 miles).
