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Macron rejects Bangladesh's request for bilateral with Yunus next month, Dhaka cancels trip
Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser of the Government of Bangladesh, attends the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2025. File Image/Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron has rejected plans for a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of an international summit slated for next month.
According to a report by the Economic Times, Yunus was all set to fly down to France to attend the Third United Nations Ocean Conference to be held next month after Dhaka requested for a bilateral meeting between Macron and Yunus.
France, however, refused the proposal, following which Yunus had to cancel his trip to the country, in a development that is being seen as a setback to the interim government's global outreach.
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The conference will be in Nice from June 9, and the French president has planned to host the participants for dinner the day before.
Why did France cancel the meeting?
Sources in Dhaka told the news outlet that after receiving an invitation from France, Bangladesh actively sought to organise a bilateral meeting between President Macron and Yunus.
However, French officials conveyed that numerous countries attending the conference had already requested bilateral meetings, leaving no room to accommodate an additional one.
France has reportedly said that it does not want to hold bilateral meetings during the summit and is keen on Yunus attending the ocean meet.
France was interested in understanding the specific objectives of the proposed bilateral meeting and was not in favour of holding it merely for formality. Although Bangladesh had previously shown interest in purchasing civilian aircraft from France, there has been no significant progress on that front.
Yunus' global outreach
Yunus has been trying to snag meetings with prominent leaders from across the world to consolidate Bangladesh's position as the situation in the country took a turn for the worse following the dismissal of Sheikh Hasina's government.
Last month, Yunus met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit in Bangkok. This was the first time PM Modi met Yunus.
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