BANGKOK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in Bangkok on Friday, their first meeting since the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Summit meeting of the leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval were also present during the meeting.
Bangladesh is the incoming chair of the BIMSTEC grouping.
Since the interim government headed by Yunus stepped in following the ouster of Hasina in August 2024, the ties between India and Bangladesh have seen a slump amid Delhi's concerns over the violence targeting Hindus and a rise of hardline Islamist forces there.
During his visit to China last week, Yunus urged Beijing to extend its economic influence to Bangladesh, controversially mentioning that India's northeastern states being landlocked could prove to be an opportunity.
Yunus said the seven northeastern states of India are a landlocked region and have no way to reach out to the ocean.
Calling Bangladesh the “only guardian of the ocean” in the region, he said this could be a huge opportunity and could be an extension of the Chinese economy.
The remarks didn’t go down well in India and Bangladesh officials have issued clarification on Yunus’ statement.