Bangladesh has not yet confirmed whether a meeting between Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take place on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York.
"I don't want to say anything about that right now. We don’t have any confirmation yet on whether it will happen or not. In fact, we haven't even received 100% confirmation that Modi is going. There is a possibility he might attend," foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain said Sunday while replying to a question.
When asked whether Bangladesh had requested a meeting, he responded: "There is a process for this, and we will proceed accordingly. It’s not like we make a request a month in advance saying 'We want to meet with you.' The system will follow its usual course. If they wish not to meet with us, we can’t force a meeting."
The question came following an Indian media report that Bangladesh has recently made a formal request to India for a meeting between Yunus and Modi, who will both be in New York for the UN General Assembly later this month.
As of Saturday, the Indian side has not yet decided on the request, the Hindustan Times report said, adding that a meeting seems unlikely after Yunus's comments in an interview with an Indian media outlet earlier this week, which were reportedly not well received in New Delhi.
In an interview with PTI, Yunus criticized former prime minister Sheikh Hasina for commenting on Bangladesh's affairs while in exile in India.
“If India wishes to retain her until Bangladesh requests her return, the condition should be that she remains silent,” Yunus said.
He also said India should move beyond the "narrative" that every political party other than Hasina's Awami League is "Islamist".
“Her comments and instructions from India are unwelcome and detrimental to both Bangladesh and India.”
There has been no response so far from the Indian side to Yunus’s remarks.
India’s leadership earlier said Hasina was approved to come to the country at short notice after she stepped down on August 5.
Bangladesh delegation at UN
A list of seven people is going to accompany the chief adviser to the United Nations went viral
Asked whether the list was accurate, the adviser replied: "Yes, the list of seven people that has been published is correct. There was an earlier list as well, and I am on it. I’m going. Some people have said they didn’t see my name on the list, but I said, no, I am going."
In response to a question about the chief adviser’s daughter joining the trip, and whether Bangladesh is returning to dynastic politics, he said: "This has nothing to do with family. I would be happy if there weren’t too much speculation about this."
When asked about the total number of people in the delegation, he said: "The number is quite small. Around 10-12 people. It won’t be a large group. We are trying to keep it as limited as possible."