Optimism in The Air After Modi-Yunus Meet in Bangkok

By Nava Thakuria, New Age Islam 7 April, 2025 The people of India woke up to an impressive one-to-one meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus during a Bangkok summit. Both the south Asian leaders had a warm discussion on the side-line of 6th BIMSTEC assembly in the Thai capital city on 4 April 2025. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation had earlier summits in Bangkok (2004), New Delhi (2008), Naypyidaw (2014), Kathmandu (2018) and Colombo (2022). Came to exist since June 1997, the BIMSTEC comprises member-countries namely India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar. PM Modi had a one-to-one discussion with Prof Yunus for the first time after the lone Nobel laureate of Bangladesh took charge of the caretaker government in Dhaka following a massive student-led movement compelled sitting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee on 5 August last year. Professor Muhammad Yunus And Narendra Modi ----- Prof Yunus raised the issue of Hasina’s extradition as she faces hundreds of cases lodged against her along with a number of Awami League leaders in their home country. Incidentally the deposed premier Hasina arrived in New Delhi for a temporary shelter and the consecutive fourth time premier of the Muslim majority nation continues to stay somewhere in the national capital city. Referring to the UN agency’s fact-finding report on serious human rights violations and abuses (committed by Bangla security forces and Awami League activists in 15 July-5 August 2024 period), Prof Yunus asserted that no less than 1,400 protest-related deaths took place in the monsoon revolution. He also brought the issue of Hasina’s provocative statements which unnecessarily created confusion in Indo-Bangla relations to PM Modi’s attention. The issue of border killings and sharing of water from Teesta river also surfaced in the discussion that lasted for around 40 minutes. On the other hand, PM Modi highlighted the issue of atrocities on minority people including the Hindus in Bangladesh and hoped that the Yunus administration would thoroughly investigate all those incidents. He also insisted on maintaining the border secured and reiterated India's support for a democratic, progressive and comprehensive Bangladesh. The exchange of words between them was candid, productive and constructive with mutual respect to each other, where Prof Yunus commented that Bangladesh deeply values its relationship with India. The deep-rooted friendship between the two countries is founded on intertwined histories, geographical proximity, and cultural affinity. Bangladesh remains thankful for the unwavering support of the government and people of India during its most challenging time in 1971. As Bangladesh assumes chairmanship of BIMSTEC, Prof Yunus sought the support of India for a free trade agreement among the seven member-nations. “Yunus-Modi meeting a positive step”, said the headline of an editorial published by a Bangladesh national newspaper. The Yunus-Modi meeting, the first in-person engagement in the last seven months, came as a positive sign for improved ties between Bangladesh and India relationship, which was strained since the political changeover in August (resulting in the ouster of Hasina), observed the Dhaka-based influential newspaper The Daily Star. “Yunus and Modi have known each other for a long time, and Yunus's presentation of the picture of the two leaders from 2015 to Modi must have been a reminder of the cordial relationship that exists between them. This perhaps opened the doors for the candid dialogue that followed. Both sides were forthright in sharing their concerns and acknowledged the importance of the historic, cultural, and trade links between the two countries,” added the editorial. Though the meeting did not offer immediate solutions for any problems that exist between the two nations, it undoubtedly launched a dialogue, which, we hope, will result in follow-up steps. This is especially crucial for Bangladesh as a lower riparian country, as the Ganges Water Treaty is soon to expire, and the Teesta Water Treaty has seen no headway for years. We also hope that, following this meeting, the negative discussion in the Indian media regarding Bangladesh will stop. Given the importance of a strong India-Bangladesh tie, realism must set in our bilateral relations, and insensitive rhetoric of all sorts should be avoided. Dialogues with our Indian counterparts should be fact-based and realistic, leading to decisions that mutually benefit both parties. We hope that both governments will strive to build a win-win relationship between the two neighbours, concluded the editorial. In his formal speech at the summit, Prof Yunus reiterated that Bangladesh will go for national elections very soon once their political parties agree to accept a minimal reform in various administrative, financial, electoral and judicial systems with assurances that the winning representatives in Jatiya Sansad (National Assembly) will continue pursuing the reform process. He believes that Bangladesh needs a major reform in various sectors including civil & police administration, anti-corruption departments, financial institutions, judicial and electoral system. The caretaker government had already directed the responsible authorities to prepare for the polls. Meanwhile, many political parties including Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e Islami, newly-formed National Citizen Party (NCP) etc submitted their opinions to the National Consensus Commission. However, Hasina's party is not in the scene and it’s difficult to guess if their candidates would be allowed to participate in the elections. ----- Nava Thakuria is a northeast India-based professional journalist who is an engineering graduate. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/optimism-modi-yunus-bangkok/d/135081 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism