Rohingya Issue: 'Delhi to help Dhaka resolve problem'

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had a brief meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on board the plane while travelling from Abu Dhabi to New York on Sunday, reports UNB.

“India is definitely with Bangladesh and it'll help Bangladesh resolve the problem,” Sushma said about the Rohingya issue, writes the news agency.

Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque said the Indian minister would visit Bangladesh on October 23-24 to attend the India-Bangladesh joint commission meeting.

However, PTI of India reports: The Rohingya crisis did not come up for discussion when Sushma paid a courtesy call on the Bangladesh PM yesterday.

“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,” Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the external affairs ministry, told reporters at a news conference in New Delhi.

Raveesh said the discussion between Hasina and Sushma was “purely bilateral”.

“Warm encounter reflecting our historical and cultural ties. Courtesy call on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by EAM,” he said in a tweet after the meeting.