Kathmandu. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Bangkok on Thursday. He will participate in the sixth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
While in Thailand, he will also meet with leaders from the region, including Prime Minister Phatthana Shinawatra. High-ranking representatives from BIMSTEC member countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand have already arrived in Bangkok to participate in the summit.
Bangladeshi media has said that Modi and Mohammad Yunus may meet to defuse tensions after the ‘tit for tat’ dispute between top leaders of the two governments. In August 2024, India’s longtime ally Sheikh Hasina sought refuge in New Delhi after a student-led uprising ousted her as prime minister.
Nobel Prize winner Yunus has taken over the reins of Bangladesh as the successor to Hasina’s government. India was a major supporter of Hasina’s government and his ouster has strained relations between the two countries, analysts say.
Hasina, who is in India, has rejected Bangladesh’s extradition request to face charges including mass killings. Yunus had sought a meeting with Modi after Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the request was “under review.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to meet his Nepali counterpart KP Sharma Oli, Nepali media reported. India has not confirmed the meeting. Modi said he would then travel to Sri Lanka for talks with leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, as Colombo grapples with its powerful northern neighbor and competing interests from China. The Sri Lankan presidency said Modi would be the first foreign head of government to visit Sri Lanka under the new administration. Dissanayake’s first foreign visit since being elected last year was to New Delhi.
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