No meeting between Modi, Yunus but Jaishankar meets Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor in New York
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Md. Touhid Hossain in New York on Monday. This was the first high-level meeting between the two countries since the interim government was formed in Bangladesh.
"Had a meeting with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain of Bangladesh in New York this evening. The conversation focussed on our bilateral ties," said Jaishankar.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the two ministers spoke about areas of mutual interest during the meeting.
PM Modi couldn’t meet with the chief advisor of the interim government Prof Yunus. India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “The Prime Minister is leaving in a few minutes from now. The chief advisor of Bangladesh is not here yet, so there hasn't been any possibility of a meeting on this occasion”.
Bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh have yet to be normalised after the new government took over.
India-led projects too have been put on the back burner but trade has resumed. Recently India removed export tariffs on onions which brought a sigh of relief for Bangladesh’s traders as it led to a reduction in prices in the domestic market.
Bangladesh too has decided to send 3000 kg of hilsa fish ahead of the festival season in India.
Jaishankar had earlier said that the government in Bangladesh is new and with time the relationship with India will be normalised, like it happened between India and Maldives.