Modi says he wants a ‘positive and constructive relationship’ with Bangladesh, where pro-India Hasina was ousted last year.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus for the first time since a revolution eight months ago ousted the country’s former prime minister and longtime Indian ally.
The two South Asian leaders spoke on the sidelines of a regional summit in Thailand on Friday.
Yunus, who is tasked with leading Bangladesh’s caretaker government until elections in 2026, was described by his press secretary as having a “constructive, productive, and fruitful” meeting with Modi.
Yunus took on his caretaker role in August 2024, after longtime leader Sheikh Hasina – who had strong ties with India – was toppled by a mass student-led uprising.
Sheikh Hasina’s overthrow sent Bangladesh’s relationship with neighbouring India into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit last month to China – India’s biggest rival.
Bangladesh has also moved closer to India’s arch-enemy Pakistan amid the diplomatic chill.
Nevertheless, Yunus and Modi appeared warm in their face-to-face meeting, with the two seen in photos smiling together and shaking hands.
Vikram Misri, India’s foreign ministry secretary, told reporters that Modi “reiterated India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh”.
Modi said he wanted a “positive and constructive relation with Bangladesh based on a spirit of pragmatism”, according to Misri. However, he also said Modi repeated New Delhi’s concerns about alleged “atrocities” against minorities in Bangladesh – a matter Dhaka has claimed is exaggerated.
Yunus, for his part, raised with Modi Dhaka’s long-running complaint about what it says are Hasina’s incendiary remarks from exile in India, his press secretary Shafiqul Alam said.
Public opinion in Bangladesh has turned against India, in part over its decision to provide sanctuary to Hasina. New Delhi has not responded to Dhaka’s request to send her home for trial.
Hasina has defied extradition requests from Bangladesh to face charges, including related to the killing of hundreds of protesters during the unrest that toppled her.
Misri said Modi and Yunus had discussed the extradition order but there was “nothing more to add” at present.
Harsh Pant, foreign policy head at the Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank, expressed hope that the meeting between Modi and Yunus would “start the process of rebuilding some engagement” between the two historically close nations.
“I think at this point, simply stabilising the relationship perhaps should be the priority,” said Pant.