B'desh request for Yunus-Modi meeting under consideration: House panel told

Bangladesh's request for a meeting between its interim government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the upcoming BIMSTEC Summit is under consideration, External Affairs minister S Jaishankar is learnt to have told a Parliamentary panel meeting here.

At this year's first meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for External Affairs on Saturday, several MPs raised concerns on attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, asking what steps was India taking in this regard, sources said.

They said Jaishankar informed the members that the interim government in Dhaka has claimed that the attacks on Hindus were "politically motivated" and not "minority targeted". 

Jaishankar briefed the MPs on ties with Bangladesh, the Maldives, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. He said he would speak about Pakistan and China separately at a later date.

Jaishankar was also learnt to have told the meeting that SAARC was inactive because of Pakistan's approach and thus India is trying to strengthen BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

He indicated that Prime Minister Modi may attend the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok from April 2 to 4 in Thailand, but did not confirm the visit at the meeting, the sources said.

He also informed the meeting that Prime Minister Modi would visit Sri Lanka next month.

Asked whether Modi is expected to meet Yunus and hold bilaterals with him on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit, Jaishankar remained non-committal saying it is under consideration, the sources said. 

Several MPs including K C Venugopal, Manish Tewari (both Congress), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT) and Mukul Wasnik (Congress) raised the issue of targeted killings of Hindus and what the government was doing to stop them.

Jaishankar said the government was engaged with the interim dispensation in Bangladesh at various levels and the issue has been raised.

The government would continue to do so, he said.

Bangladesh remained the main topic of discussion with almost all the MPs engaging on the issue.

Some MPs including those from the South raised the issue of fishermen's livelihood and their problems with Sri Lanka.

A section of the members also raised the issue of drugs and arms being smuggled into the country from both Pakistan and Myanmar, with the minister saying the government is seized of the matter and has been raising the issue with the concerned.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Vikram Mistry gave a detailed presentation on India's relations with Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.