Jaishankar meets Bangladesh counterpart amid strife in ties

India and Bangladesh had their first high-level engagement in person since former PM Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in the form of a bilateral meeting between foreign minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the ongoing UNGA session.
While Jaishankar only said in a post on X that they focused on bilateral ties, he is learnt to have reiterated India’s emphasis on restoration of law and order and safety of minorities, while reaffirming India’s commitment to work with a peaceful, stable and peaceful Bangladesh.
According to Dhaka, issues of mutual interests were discussed. While there had been much speculation about whether PM Narendra Modi was going to meet Bangladesh Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, the Indian government said there was no possibility of a meeting between the leaders as Modi was about to embark on his return journey by the time Yunus arrived in New York. Yunus had a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden in New York on Tuesday.
The first bilateral engagement with Bangladesh took place in the middle of strife in ties over a series of hostile remarks made by top functionaries of the interim government, including Yunus and Hossain. Touhid had said in an interview earlier this week that it’s not an ideal situation for governments to say that the relationship is good while people in Bangladesh have anti-India sentiments.
"Acknowledging the problem is important for addressing it. We will definitely try to sort out the tension and maintain working relations. The relationship will have to be based on mutual respect and fairness,’’ he said just before his meeting with Jaishankar.
Despite India’s deep concern over the safety of Hindus, the chief advisor has twice said that the issue about attacks on minorities is exaggerated. He has also called upon India to not remain captivated by the “narrative that portrays every other political party except Awami League as Islamist’’ or that Bangladesh is safe with only Hasina at the helm.
India is also wary of the interim government’s efforts to, as Hossain said in an interview this week, build a normal relationship with Pakistan after Hasina’s exit. Yunus has sought a revival of SAARC, which remains stalled because of India’s opposition to cross-border terrorism, and reports from Dhaka say he’s likely to have a bilateral meeting with Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif in New York.