Modi Meets Bangladesh’s Interim Leader Yunus for First Time Since Dhaka Revolution

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on Friday, marking their first official engagement since political upheaval in Dhaka reshaped bilateral relations.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC regional summit in Thailand, following months of diplomatic tension triggered by the ouster of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.

Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate and renowned microfinance pioneer, assumed leadership of a caretaker government after a student-led revolution forced Hasina to flee to India. Once a close ally of New Delhi, Hasina’s dramatic exit strained India-Bangladesh ties, especially after Yunus’s symbolic first foreign visit as interim leader was to China—India’s strategic rival.

Yunus shared a photograph on social media of him shaking hands with Modi, calling the meeting “constructive, productive, and fruitful,” according to his press secretary Shafiqul Alam. Another image showed the two leaders smiling as Yunus presented Modi with a framed photograph from a 2015 event, when Modi honored Yunus with a gold medal for his work in poverty alleviation.

India, however, has yet to release an official statement on the bilateral meeting.

Yunus reportedly raised several pressing concerns during the meeting:

• Extradition of Sheikh Hasina: The interim government has formally requested India to extradite Hasina to face charges related to crimes against humanity and mass killings during the 2024 unrest.
• Border Violence: Tensions remain high along the shared and porous India-Bangladesh border, with occasional skirmishes reported.
• River Water Disputes: Yunus also pressed for progress on resolving long-standing disputes over transboundary rivers such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra, which originate in India and flow into Bangladesh.

These complex issues have fueled cross-border friction in recent months, with both nations engaging in sharp rhetoric.