Chief Adviser to interim Bangladesh govt Muhammad Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely meet on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand next month.

“The bilateral meeting is expected to be held during the BIMSTEC summit, which is tentatively scheduled for next month,” said Foreign Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain at a media briefing at the foreign ministry here Wednesday afternoon.

The Chief Adviser is scheduled to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit, initially planned for September 4, but the event was postponed.

Thailand is set to host the next summit while Bangladesh will take responsibility as the next chair of BIMSTEC there.

Dispelling speculation, no meeting between the heads of government of Bangladesh and India took place during the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York due to schedule conflicts of the two leaders.

When asked about the outcome of his meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of the UNGA, Hossain said both sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining strong relations between the two neighbouring countries.

“We agreed that establishing good relations between our two countries is crucial for the betterment of the two people,” he observed.

The foreign adviser mentioned that the two sides discussed normalizing the visa process for Bangladeshi citizens traveling to India.

"He (Jaishankar) expressed the hope that the visa system would be restored soon," Hossain added.

Additionally, he said, they reviewed Bangladesh’s internal security situation.

"I assured him that the security situation has significantly improved, and no foreign country has raised concerns in recent times," Hossain noted.

BDST: 1143 HRS, SEPT 03, 2024
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