The Rohingya issue dominated meetings that the Bangladesh Foreign Minister held here on Thursday with the Indian leadership.
Interacting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, A.K. Abdul Momen, who is on his maiden trip to India, sought continued support in resolving the humanitarian disaster that has brought more than a million refugees to Chittagong.
“While thanking Prime Minister Modi for India’s humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya, Bangladesh Foreign Minister sought India’s support for early repatriation of the Rohingya to the Rakhine state of Myanmar,” the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh said in a statement.
The Minister, who arrived here on Wednesday night, will participate in the fifth round of the Joint Commission meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday.
In a message posted on social media, Mr. Modi thanked the Minister for choosing India as his first foreign destination after taking charge in January.
“The Prime Minister said that India-Bangladesh relations have been on an upward trajectory in the last few years. He reaffirmed India’s commitment to work with Bangladesh to build on this momentum during the new term in office of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” a press statement from the MEA declared.
The Minister also met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma. A statement from the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh stated that Mr. Singh conveyed his party’s positive stance in helping to resolve the Rohingya crisis, which erupted in 2017 following a military campaign by Myanmar. The statement also said that Mr. Singh expressed hope for resolving other bilateral issues, including sharing of the Teesta waters.