TDS Desk:

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears unwilling to meet Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, due to a reluctance to discuss difficult issues such as the extradition of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, analysts say.

Relations with Dhaka had become “a highly sensitive issue” for New Delhi as any high-level engagement with the interim government would require India to focus on matters it would much rather avoid discussing right now, said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at The Wilson Center in Washington.

“Chief among them is [former Bangladesh prime minister] Sheikh Hasina’s presence in India,” he said, noting that the interim government wanted her extradited to Bangladesh while Delhi did not want to give her up given her close relationship with many of the country’s leaders.

“If Modi were to meet Yunus, it would be impossible to avoid discussing this issue.”

Indian media reported last week that Delhi had yet to confirm whether it would heed Dhaka’s request for a meeting between Modi and Yunus, who are expected to be in New York for the United Nations General Assembly later this month.

Last month, in their first high-level contact, Yunus spoke on the phone with Modi and assured him that the interim government would “prioritise protection, safety and security of Hindus and all minority groups in Bangladesh”.

However, Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said on Sunday the “regular procedure” for holding any meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA would have to be followed as such talks are not planned in advance.

Lailufar Yasmin, international relations professor at the University of Dhaka, said while a Modi-Yunus meeting would be “uncharted territory” for India, it would be better for Delhi the sooner the meeting took place.

“It is time for India to realise that the relationship between the two countries cannot be channelled through only one political party,” Yasmin said, describing the 53-year-old policy as “myopic” and one that had not allowed India to see beyond and “gauge the ground realities”.

Yasmin said recent events should serve as a “wake-up call” for India to engage with its neighbours in a “fresh and novel manner”.