The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday announced Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s engagements in Bangkok without any mention about a bilateral meeting with Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit.   

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of Thailand Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister Modi will visit Bangkok from April 3-4 April to participate in the 6th BIMSTEC Summit to be held on April 4, hosted by Thailand, the current BIMSTEC Chair, and for an official visit. This will be Modi’s third visit to Thailand.

Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin on Tuesday said Dhaka is ready to see a bilateral meeting between Chief Adviser Dr Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the Bimstec Summit and is expecting a positive response from Delhi.

He said the strain that is there in the relations between Bangladesh and India could be overcome if the bilateral meeting is held between Prof Yunus and Modi.

"On our part, we are ready (for the talks). We will be waiting," Jashim  said, adding that Bangladesh is giving much importance to the meeting as Dhaka believes the meeting will help take forward the relations.

Bangladesh approached India through the diplomatic channel to arrange a meeting between Dr Yunus and  Modi on the sidelines of the upcoming Bimstec Summit in Bangkok.

Dr Yunus is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to Thailand to attend the BIMSTEC Summit.

This would be the first physical meeting of the BIMSTEC leaders since the 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2018.

The last 5th BIMSTEC Summit was held at Colombo, Sri Lanka in March 2022 in virtual format.

The 6th Summit’s theme is "BIMSTEC – Prosperous, Resilient and Open”. The leaders are expected to deliberate on ways and means to infuse greater momentum to BIMSTEC cooperation during the Summit.

The leaders are also expected to discuss various institution and capacity building measures to augment collaboration within the BIMSTEC framework.