Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Bangkok on Thursday to attend the sixth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit, scheduled for Friday.
New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Bangkok on Thursday to attend the sixth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit, scheduled for Friday.
Ahead of the Summit, he is set to participate in an official dinner reception hosted by Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for visiting heads of state/government.
Interim Bangladeshi leader Muhammad Yunus is also likely to attend, but no official bilateral meeting has been announced between him and Modi. It remains to be seen whether the two leaders meet informally.
New Delhi-Dhaka ties have deteriorated over the past eight months since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, with India voicing concern over the interim government’s anti-India stance and recent attacks on the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. Yunus’s remarks during a recent trip to China — claiming Bangladesh’s sole guardianship of the surrounding ocean and inviting Beijing for economic expansion — have further strained relations.
During his visit, Modi will also hold talks with his Thai counterpart on Thursday before attending the BIMSTEC Summit on Friday. The summit agenda includes adopting the Bangkok Vision 2030 document, signing an agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation, and issuing the declaration of the sixth BIMSTEC summit. Modi will later visit Bangkok’s Wat Pho Temple and has been granted a royal audience with the Thai King before continuing his journey to Colombo.
