Chinese Prez Vows Deeper Cooperation in Meeting with Yunus

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday pledged deeper cooperation with Bangladeshi counterpart Muhammad Yunus in a meeting that came as Dhaka seeks new friends to offset frosty ties with India.

- Agence France-Presse

BEIJING:

Yunus took charge of Bangladesh last August after the toppling of autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi after a student-led uprising.

India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina's government, and her ouster sent cross-border relations into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit to China—India's biggest Asian rival.

Xi told Yunus on Friday that Beijing was "willing to work with Bangladesh to push bilateral cooperation to a new level," Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said. "China... insists on remaining a good neighbor, good friend and good partner to Bangladesh, based on mutual trust," Xi said, according to CCTV.