The foreign secretaries of India and Bangladesh met in Dhaka on Monday, the first such meeting since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August. Foreign Secretary Vikram Mishri arrived in Dhaka on an Indian Air Force plane for a one-day visit.
Upon arrival, Mishri held one-on-one talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin before holding a formal meeting with delegations from both countries.
A Bangladeshi foreign ministry official told the news agency PTIThe meeting between our Foreign Secretary Jashim Uddin and his counterpart Bikram Mishri is being held at the state guest house Padma as scheduled.
The discussion is expected to address A range of bilateral issuesEspecially in light of strained relations following Hasina’s departure amid widespread protests. The situation has worsened with recent attacks on Hindus and the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das raising concerns in New Delhi.
Analysts have predicted that the talks will cover recent violence against minorities and persecution of the Hindu community in Bangladesh, as well as the attack on the Bangladesh mission in Agartala. Interim government chief Mohammad Yunus said India may not have supported the “revolution” to oust the “fascist regime”. Members of his interim cabinet suggested that the Indian media exaggerated the situation of minority oppression. Dhaka says the persecution of Hindus is a backlash against the leaders of the ousted Hasina regime, claiming that the persecution of Hindus is linked to their political affiliation rather than their religious identity.
In September, a brief meeting was held between Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Mohammad Tauhid Hussain and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar at the UN General Assembly. Misri is scheduled to meet Hussain and have a courtesy meeting with Yunus.
Hussain is optimistic about overcoming the impasse, saying, “We are hopeful that we will be able to overcome this impasse. Establishing mutual communication and meeting each other is very important to overcome such impasse.
(with inputs from PTI)