3 days Ago
Dismissing concerns, the interim government of Bangladesh, headed by muhamad yunus, mentioned that interaction took place at the official level without political nuance. "We are not joining any alliance," said M Touhid Hossain, adviser on foreign affairs while addressing a media briefing at the foreign ministry. He said there was "no element of formation of any alliance" and that the gathering should not be "misunderstood".
Clarification of India's Role
In response to a question if the trilateral meeting was to isolate India from regional cooperation, Hossain dismissed it outright. "It is certainly not (about) targeting a third party (which) I can assure you," he said, knocking down speculation of regional realignment.
The gathering had earlier been described as an "informal trilateral meeting" to be attended by representatives from Bangladesh, China and Pakistan, according to the Bangladeshi foreign ministry. Although the significance of the event was played down in Dhaka, there were more detailed explanations from both China and Pakistan.
China and Pakistan Statements Disagree
In individual statements, China characterised the meeting as a place for "in-depth exchanges on trilateral cooperation" which reflects common values where "good-neighbourliness, mutual trust, equality, openness, inclusiveness and shared development" play a role.
Pakistan meanwhile termed this the "inaugural meeting of the Bangladesh-China-Pakistan trilateral mechanism" and quoted the release as saying that "it was decided to establish a joint working group. These inconsistent descriptions led to further speculation, which Bangladesh has now attempted to clear up.
Dhaka says that the meeting was only a friendly discussion and no step toward a new alliance in the region.
