The recent trilateral meeting among Bangladesh, Pakistan and China was not an alliance-building one, and it did not target any third country, said Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain.
"It was not a structured meeting. You will know if it [meeting to build alliance] happens," he told reporters yesterday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while responding to a question.
"We are not forming any alliance. It was a meeting at the official level, not at the political level…," he added.
Bangladesh, China and Pakistan held an informal trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 9th China-South Asia Exposition and the 6th China-South Asia Cooperation meeting in Kunming on June 19, according to a foreign ministry official.
Bangladesh's then acting foreign secretary Md Ruhul Alam Siddique, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong and Pakistani Additional Foreign Secretary Imran Ahmed Siddiqui led their respective delegations in the meeting.
They exchanged views on possible trilateral cooperation on the basis of mutual trust, understanding and shared vision for peace, prosperity and stability in the region.
The meeting was also held to identify the areas of deeper cooperation, including infrastructure, connectivity, trade, investment, healthcare, agriculture, maritime affairs, ICT, disaster preparedness and climate change issues.
Asked if the meeting was held targeting India, he said, "Certainly not, it did not target any third party. I can guarantee that."
For example, he said, if India wants to hold a trilateral meeting with Nepal and Bangladesh, Dhaka will agree to do it, he added.
Asked why Bangladesh needed to join the trilateral meeting, Touhid said, "The meeting was about connectivity, trade and cooperation in various areas… The speculations are made because Pakistan and China were there."
Responding to a question, Touhid said the relationship with India is now at a stage of 'readjustment' and there is no lack of goodwill from Dhaka's side to improve ties.
"Let us acknowledge the truth: the present government does not have the level of deep relationship that existed between India and the previous government," he added.
He said the relationship is not cold either.
"It is in the process of readjustment. We have no dearth of goodwill… We are readjusting," he said.
Asked why the official meeting between Chief Adviser Prof Yunus and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was not held, he said it was an official visit and the meeting was supposed to take place.
"I cannot say at this moment why it did not happen," he said.
Asked who would take responsibility for this, he said, "Let's see who takes the responsibility."
Asked about the scheduled bilateral visit by the chief adviser to Malaysia in July, he said Dhaka now wants to shift it to August due to the events of the July mass uprising anniversary.
"We are working on it," he said.