External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Tuesday met Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the first high-level engagement between India and Bangladesh's caretaker government led by Muhammad Yunus after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister last month.
It was aimed at "strengthening" bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries while focusing on mutual interests.
EAM Jaishankar tweeted: "Met Foreign Affairs Advisor Md. Touhid Hossain of Bangladesh in New York this evening. The conversation focussed on our bilateral ties.".
The two ministers met just a few hours after the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry lodged a "diplomatic protest" with the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Monday in response to recent remarks made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah "regarding Bangladeshi nationals" during his visit to Jharkhand.
The statement of the Bangladesh MFA was widely criticized, and it is asserted that EAM Jaishankar would have passed on New Delhi's disappointment over the matter during his meeting with Hossain, also attended by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Even as India continues to bat for normalization of relations following the events of last month and continued targeting of the Hindu community in Bangladesh, the interim government in Dhaka has been accused of making statements without ground over the past few weeks.
Last month, the MEA had dismissed as "baseless" the allegations leveled by Bangladesh's interim government that India is "deliberately" letting more water flow into the neighboring country.
According to sources at the MEA, it said: "We have seen media reports of the opening of Farakka barrage gates that will allow the flow of over 11 lakh cusecs of water downstream of the river in its natural course into the Ganga/Padma river. This is a normal seasonal development that takes place due to increased inflow from heavy rainfall in the Ganga river basin catchment areas upstream," said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on August 26.
New Delhi expressed its concerns over "fake videos, rumours and fear-mongering to create misunderstanding," stating that the entire data-as per the protocol-is shared with the concerned Joint River Commission officials in Bangladesh on a regular and timely basis.
"It is to be understood that Farakka is only a barrage and not a dam. Whenever the water level reaches the pond level, whatever inflow comes that passes.". "It is merely a structure to divert 40,000 cusecs of water into the Farakka canal that is carefully done using a system of gates on the main Ganga/Padma river, while the balance water flows into the main river to Bangladesh," he added, countering firmly with facts and dispelling the other gossips.
There was much speculative media chatter that PM Modi was to meet Mohammad Yunus on the fringes of the UN 'Summit of the Future on Monday', but it wasn't scheduled as the leaders are arriving and departing at different times.
Question:Asked this at a press conference, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, "The Prime Minister is leaving in a few minutes from now. The Chief Advisor of Bangladesh is not here yet, so there hasn't been any possibility of a meeting on this occasion."
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