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Keir Starmer Declines To Meet Bangladesh Chief Adviser Yunus During His London Visit: Report
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Keir Starmer has reportedly refused to meet Bangladesh's Yunus during his UK visit aimed at seeking help to recover funds allegedly siphoned by the former Sheikh Hasina regime.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly turned down a request to meet Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, who is on a bilateral official visit to the United Kingdom from June 10 to 13, to raise support for efforts to recover billions of dollars siphoned off by the deposed Sheikh Hasina's regime.
During his visit, Yunus was expecting a bilateral meeting with Starmer and to have an audience with King Charles III of the United Kingdom, for which a formal letter was sent from the Awami League's UK branch to Downing Street, it was learnt earlier this week.
However, a report with the Financial Times has claimed Starmer did not agree to meet Yunus.
Moreover, Yunus told the publication that the UK should feel 'morally" obliged to help Bangladesh's new government track down funds 'stolen" by the previous regime, much of it allegedly now in the UK.
'I have no direct conversation with him (Starmer)", the report quoted Yunus as saying.
He added that he had 'no doubt" Starmer would support Bangladesh's efforts, the report claimed.
'This is stolen money," he said of the misappropriated funds.
The report also quoted UK government officials as saying that there was no plan for Starmer to meet Yunus at present.
While Yunus said the UK government was already providing assistance in finding the money, he said the UK should feel 'legally and morally" obliged to help Bangladesh recover it, the report claimed.
The objective of the trip was to bring out 'more enthusiastic support" from the UK, Yunus said, according to the report.
On Sunday, it was reported that the Bangladesh Chief Advisor's Office was yet to receive a letter sent by former UK minister Tulip Siddiq, requesting a meeting with Yunus.
'We have received no letter from her so far," BD News quoted Chief Advisor's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam as saying.
'We have been on Eid-ul-Azha holiday since June 5. We will depart for the United Kingdom at 7.30 pm on Monday. Since we have yet to receive the letter, there is no opportunity to comment on the matter," the press secretary said.
British MP Siddiq, in the letter, sought a meeting with Yunus in London to clear up a 'misunderstanding" over corruption allegations against her, news agency PTI reported.
In the June 4 letter to Yunus, Siddiq asked for an opportunity to discuss the ongoing controversy during the chief adviser's then-upcoming visit to London.
Ousted on August 5 last year after a massive student-led agitation, Hasina faces multiple cases in Bangladesh.
On Wednesday, Yunus had said he would not be interested in being part of the next elected government in Bangladesh.
The 84-year-old Nobel Laureate, who took over as the head of the interim government in August last year after the ouster of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced last week that national elections will be held by the first half of April 2026.
Yunus, during a question-and-answer session at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in Chatham House, London, said that the interim government's job was to ensure a well-managed transition to hand over power to an elected government, state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported.
Replying to another question about Hasina's Awami League, Yunus said there is a debate over whether the party can truly be called a political party when it is accused of killing young people, making citizens disappear and stealing public money.
First Published:
June 12, 2025, 12:21 IST
