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New Delhi: Eight months after Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus met for the first time on Friday (April 4), with Modi urging restraint in provocative rhetoric – while both leaders flagged their key concerns, from the former prime minister’s return to the treatment of minorities.

Bangladesh had made public its request for meeting between Yunus three weeks earlier, but India had kept its decision close to its chest till the meeting was held. Dhaka had publicly confirmed it two days earlier.

After the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) Summit concluded on Friday noon, Modi met Yunus, along with their delegations at the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok for 40 minutes, where both kept to their talking points that they had been maintaining for the last few months.

While no concrete outcomes were publicly evident and differences persisted, the meeting itself was a significant step after months of diplomatic strain.

During the meeting that Dhaka described as “candid, productive, and constructive,” Yunus presented Modi with a photograph of the Indian prime minister awarding him a gold medal in January 2015.

He also stated that Bangladesh remained “thankful for the unwavering support of the government and people of India during our most challenging time in 1971”.

After the talks, foreign secretary Vikram Misri told reporters that Modi reaffirmed India’s commitment to a “people-centric approach” in its ties with Bangladesh and reiterated support for a “democratic, stable, peaceful,........

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