In this handout image provided on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi with U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House, in Washington, DC.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Amidst troubled ties with Bangladesh, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will meet Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the 8th Indian Ocean Conference in Muscat on Sunday (February 16, 2025), sources confirmed.
Mr. Jaishankar, who will inaugurate the regional conference co-hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Omani government, and organised by the India Foundation, will also meet with a number of other Foreign Ministers from about 27 countries. The Foreign Ministers of Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh will be attending the annual conference.
In a sign of the government’s normalisation process of ties with China after the October agreement between the militaries at the Line of Actual Control, China’s Special Envoy for Middle East Affairs Zhai Jun will attend, marking the first time an official from the country has been invited since the conference held in 2019.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will address the grouping. Mr. Jaishankar, who accompanied Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Paris and Washington this week, attended the Munich Security Conference on Saturday before arriving in Muscat.
Mr. Jaishankar will address the inaugural session of the Indian Ocean Conference on Sunday along with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi and Mr. Balakrishnan.
Spiralling ties
Mr. Jaishankar’s meeting with the Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser is particularly significant as it comes amidst spiralling ties between the Modi government and the caretaker government in Dhaka led by Muhammad Yunus, and deep concerns that Mr. Modi even raised with U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit to Washington.
While India has expressed alarm over the attacks on minorities after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, as well as the treatment of Indian businesses by the new government, the Yunus government has demanded that India ensure that Ms. Hasina, who has taken shelter in Delhi, does not make political statements or address public rallies of the Awami League via video conference. A number of other irritants, over border security, water sharing and flood management, trade issues, the release of radicals and those accused on terror charges in Bangladesh have also been discussed between both sides, including during a visit by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Dhaka in December. Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Hossain will be tasked with taking forward the talks on resolving issues, as well preparing for a possible meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Yunus, as both are expected to attend the BIMSTEC regional conference in Bangkok on April 2-4.
Mr. Jaishankar will also have a chance to interact with other counterparts from the region, and tackle issues testing ties with them. Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath will be in Muscat days after the Adani Group pulled out of a renewable energy contract after the Dissanayake government ordered a second review against it.
Trade with Maldives
Maldives’ Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel is expected to discuss talks for a Free Trade Agreement with India, after the Muizzu government has already operationalized an FTA with China. Nepal’s Foreign Minister Arzu Deuba is expected to discuss dates for a bilateral visit by Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who was sworn in in July last year, but has not so far received an invitation. In December, Mr. Oli travelled to Beijing for a bilateral visit, one of the first times India was not the first stop for a Nepali PM.
All eyes will also be on a possible meet with Mauritius’ Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful. New Delhi has been disappointed by the newly elected Mauritian government’s decision to review the deal the previous government had struck over the transfer of Chagos Island that houses the U.S. Diego Garcia base, from the U.K. to Mauritius in line with international ruling over sovereignty issues.
India had played a “quiet but important” background role in the agreement, officials said, and Mr. Jaishankar, fresh from his visit to the U.S. and meetings there, may discuss the issue with Mr. Ramful.
According to the organisers this is the biggest Indian Ocean Conference, with 29 Ministers, and more than 200 delegates from more than 45 countries, and regional groupings like SAARC, IORA, BIMSTEC and Gulf Cooperation Council participating.
“The Indian Ocean region is home to… about three billion people, it is the most happening region, where 70% of global container trade goes through. Most importantly it is a region that is largely peaceful, connected not just by oceanic waters, but culture, history and civilisation,” India Foundation president Ram Madhav, former general secretary of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said, addressing a press conference previewing the conference in Muscat.
Published – February 15, 2025 10:11 pm IST