Jaishankar meets Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other south Asian counterparts

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar meets with Bangladesh Foreign Minister in Muscat to address regional challenges and tensions.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Touhid Hossain in Muscat on Sunday (February 16, 2025), in a meeting aimed at defusing tensions and addressing “challenges” between Delhi and Dhaka over attacks on minorities and the continued stay of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in India. Mr. Jaishankar, who was attending the 8th Indian Ocean Conference, warned of a “churning” in the region. He also met with counterparts from a number of countries, including Nepal Foreign Minister Arzu Deuba Rana, Bhutan Foreign Minister D.N. Dhungyel, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the Foreign Ministers of Mauritius and Brunei, as well as his Omani co-host Syed Badr Hamad Al Busaidi. 

In a statement, the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said the two leaders had noted a number of regular bilateral exchanges had been held between the two countries in the past few months and a meeting of border guards is expected this week.

“The [Foreign Ministers] hoped that various border-related issues would be discussed and resolved during the meeting. Both sides recognised the challenges the two neighbours are facing in terms of bilateral relations and discussed about the necessity to work together to address those,” the statement said.

Mr. Jaishankar, who last met Mr. Hossain in September 2024 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, said the “conversation was focused on [the India-Bangladesh] bilateral relationship, as also on BIMSTEC [Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation].”

The reference to the BIMSTEC is significant as the next summit of the regional grouping will be held in Bangkok on April 2-4, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus are expected to attend. Both leaders have spoken over the telephone once but have not met since the upheaval in Bangladesh and the ouster of Ms. Hasina in August 2024.

Addressing the IOC’s inaugural session, which included ministers of more than 25 countries, and is co-hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs this year with the Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs and organised by India Foundation, Mr. Jaishankar said the Indian Ocean was witnessing a “sharp churning” due to developments in West Asia and  the Indo-Pacific, calling for a “coordinated flotilla” to develop the region. 

“In the Middle East/West Asia, there is a serious conflict underway with the potential for further escalation and complication,” Mr. Jaishankar said. “At the same time, longstanding issues are being revisited, sometimes with a radically different approach,” he added, in an oblique reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest statements on Gaza, where he has proposed moving nearly two million Gazans to Egypt and Jordan, and the U.S. taking charge of redeveloping the area that has been bombarded by Israel. The proposal has been rejected by most countries in the Gulf region, including Oman, where the MFA said that any plans “aimed at transferring Palestinians from their lands constitute a flagrant violation of international law and legitimate international resolutions”, calling the Trump proposal a “threat to security and stability” in the region.