BANGKOK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Bangladesh's chief advisor Muhammad Yunus in Thailand. The meeting is at a time when relations between India and Bangladesh were deteriorating. This is the first meeting since the Bangladesh government expelled Sheikh Hasina in August. Yunus and Modi met on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok.

The visuals of the two leaders shaking hands before the bilateral talks had emerged. Modi and Yunus were seen seated together at the dinner hosted for the BIMSTEC leaders' last night. This also adds to the doubts about whether there has been a settlement in the issues between the countries.

Yunus's remarks about India's northeastern states during his visit to China had stoked a controversy. It is also noteworthy that the meeting took place just days after this incident. Yunus' remark was that India's northeastern region is landlocked and have no way to reach out to the ocean. He called Bangladesh the only guardian of the ocean. Yunus also said that China can use Bangladesh to expand its development. Yunus spoke about the Indian states with the aim of strengthening Chinese investment in Bangladesh.

‘The seven states of India, the eastern part of India, are called the seven sisters. They are a landlocked region of India. They have no way to reach out to the ocean. This is a massive opportunity. It can be used to expand the Chinese economy. You can go anywhere from Bangladesh. We are the guardians of the sea in this region. This opens up big opportunities. China can use it. We can do construction, production and marketing,’ Yunus said at a high-level discussion on ‘Sustainable Development and Energy’ at the Presidential Hotel in Beijing.