External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday paid a courtesy call on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but the ongoing Rohingya crisis did not come up for discussion during their brief meeting.
“The meeting with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh was more in the nature of a courtesy meeting. It was a very short meeting. The issue of Rohingya did not come up during the meeting for discussion,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters at a news conference here.
‘Purely bilateral’
Mr. Kumar said the discussion between Ms. Swaraj and Ms. Hasina was “purely bilateral.” “Warm encounter reflecting our historical and cultural ties. Courtesy call on Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina by EAM [External Affairs Minister],” he said in a tweet after the meeting.
Bangladesh, facing a big influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar, has called on the international community to intervene and put pressure on Myanmar to address the exodus.
Earlier, Ms. Swaraj met Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay but the Doklam issue did not figure in the meeting. The Ministry spokesperson said since the Doklam issue was already settled, there was “no question of it coming up in discussions.”