Sushma meets Hasina but no discussion on Rohingya

India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj met Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina in New York on Tuesday.

But, livemint quoting PTI said, the ongoing Rohingya crisis did not come up for discussion during their meeting.

It was Sushma's courtesy call on the Bangladesh premier in New York where Hasina went to address the UN General Assembly.

“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,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar was quoted to have told reporters at a news conference there.

Kumar reportedly said that the discussion between Swaraj and Hasina was “purely bilateral”.

“Warm encounter reflecting our historical and cultural ties. Courtesy call on Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina by EAM (external affairs minister),” he said in a tweet after the meeting.

The livemint report said Bangladesh, which is facing a big influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar, has called on the international community to intervene and put pressure on Myanmar to address the exodus.

According to the UN estimates, over 410,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state into Bangladesh since 25 August when fresh wave of violence erupted.