TDS Desk:

India has begun engaging with the new regime in Bangladesh led by Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

New Delhi has sent out a message to Dhaka that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government Prof Yunus at the sideline of the BIMSTEC Summit scheduled to be held on 4 September in Thailand.

It will be the first official meeting between India and Bangladesh after a change of government in Bangladesh.

Thailand is current chair of the seven nations grouping of the BIMSTEC. During September summit Thailand will hand over the chairmanship to Bangladesh. The next summit of BIMSTEC is scheduled to be held in Dhaka in 2025.

At the time of the swearing of the Chief Adviser, High Commissioner of India Pranay Verma attended the ceremony. Ministry of External Affairs has put out a short note of attending of High Commissioner at the swearing ceremony to the Indian media.

Recently New Delhi hosted a meeting of foreign ministers of the BIMSTEC countries (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), comprising seven member states: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

The meeting of BIMSTEC foreign ministers was preparatory to a meeting of the leaders at the forthcoming sixth BIMSTEC summit scheduled to be held in Thailand in September 2024. India wants to focus on greater connectivity, both over the land route and in the maritime domain. It is expected that all seven heads of government of BIMSTEC nations will attend the summit. However, the situation in Myanmar is likely to dominate the summit agenda, with the member country embroiled in a serious civil war which is impacting both India and Bangladesh.

Thailand is currently the Chair of BIMSTEC; according to officials, it is aspiring to propel the region towards a “Prosperous, Resilient and Open BIMSTEC” or “PRO BIMSTEC” by 2030. BIMSTEC is primarily a technical and economic cooperation framework for the seven-member countries – all of which are dependent on and bordering the Bay of Bengal. Informed sources said the September Summit would be the first time that the BIMSTEC leaders would be meeting in person since 2018.