After NRC, Modi, Bangladesh's Hasina to meet on sidelines of BIMSTEC summit

Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will meet BangladeshPM Sheikh Hasina in Kathmandu on Thursday on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit.

This will be the first meeting between the two after the second and final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was released in Assam. It has however not been confirmed that the NRC will be discussed.

Bangladesh has been silent on the issue saying it is India's internal issue.

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Earlier, speaking to WION, Bangladesh’s Information Minister Hasanul-Haque Inu said, “This is an internal issue for state of Assam and India, Bangladesh has nothing to do with it.”

He added that Bangladesh has no interest in what is happening in Assam.

He further said the Indian government has never raised the issue of migration with Bangladesh in the past several years.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee however had said the issue will destroy New Delhi's ties with Bangladesh.

"The NRC will destroy the relationship between India and Bangladesh. Out of 40 lakh people whose names are not on the list of NRC, only 1 per cent could be illegal infiltrators. But the BJP is trying to show that all those not included (in NRC) are infiltrators,” Mamata had said.

PM Modi will also meet with Nepal Prime MinisterKP Sharma Oli.

Preeti Saran, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, in a curtain raiser press conference ahead of the BIMSTEC Summit in New Delhi, said, "I can confirm there will be bilaterals for sure with Nepal as it is the host country, but it is customary for our Prime Minister whenever he attends such regional summits, it is certainly a very important opportunity for him to meet his counterparts from the neighboring countries."

This will be the second visit by Modi to Nepal this year and the fourth visit since taking charge in 2014. He will also visit Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu.

Other than the bilateral meetings with Bangladesh and Nepal PMs, Modi will also meet with the Sri Lankan President and the Thai Prime Minister.