Indian high commissioner meets foreign minister

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi had a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman at a state guest house on Sunday.

"I can only tell you it's a pre-arranged meeting, and I don't know what they discussed," a senior official aware of the meeting told UNB.

Fresh tensions have surfaced between Dhaka and New Delhi following former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent speech in New Delhi, with her remarks drawing strong reactions in Bangladesh.

On Thursday, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam reiterated that Dhaka wants constructive engagement with New Delhi, noting that the two neighbours have a wide range of bilateral issues requiring continued dialogue.

"We want our relations... because we have many issues with India, many bilateral issues - water, energy, and the border - that need to be resolved through discussion and dialogue," she said.

Shama Obaed, however, emphasized that Bangladesh's relationship with India extends far beyond the current issue.

"A country has many aspects to its relationship with another country. We need to have a lot of dialogue with them, and we need to hold discussions. We have cooperation on energy, we have a major issue with them over water, and there are issues on the border - these have to be resolved through discussions," she said.