Bangladesh: Former head of Soros' Open Society Foundations meets Yunus in Dhaka

Mark Malloch-Brown, the former President of the Open Society Foundations founded by Hungarian-born billionaire US investor George Soros, met Muhammad Yunus, the head of the interim government in Bangladesh, in Dhaka on Sunday.

"Lord Mark Malloch-Brown calls on Chief Advisor Bangladesh," Yunus' office posted on X with a photograph from the meeting.

Brown, who has also previously worked with the United Nations, World Bank and as a minister with the British government, had stepped down from his role in June 2024 following Binaifer Nowrojee's appointment as the new president of the Open Society Foundations.

Over the last few years, nonagenarian Soros has openly declared his intention to remove nationalist governments from power, including in India.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar had referred to Soros as an "old, rich, opinionated and dangerous" person for making repeated attempts to hurt India's image and democratic structure.

Calling him a "left-winger" who has "an awful lot of money", former US National Security Advisor (NSA) John Bolton had told IANS that the controversial businessman's views should not be labelled as Washington's stand on several key issues.

"Look, Soros is a left winger in American political terms and he has an awful lot of money. He uses a lot of it in American politics and certainly there are reports that he uses a lot of it around the world also. Some reports of what he's doing are more accurate than others, but I think his overall worldview is not one that I share," Bolton told IANS in an exclusive chat in October.

Interestingly, the Brown-Yunus meeting took place just before Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is scheduled to hold Foreign Office Consultations with his Bangladesh counterpart Jashim Uddin, in Dhaka on Monday.

Relations between the two countries have nosedived over the past few months as India remains extremely concerned with the surge in extremist rhetoric, increasing incidents of violence, and provocations, especially against the Hindu community, in Bangladesh.

Earlier this week, Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had accused Yunus of being the "mastermind of mass killings" and orchestrating attacks on minorities in Bangladesh.

Addressing an Awami League event in New York virtually, Hasina slammed Yunus for allegedly targeting Hindu temples, including ISKCON sites, and other religious places of the minorities in Bangladesh.

"Today, I have been accused of mass killings. In reality, it is Muhammad Yunus who is responsible for mass killings through a deliberate plan along with his student coordinators. They are the masterminds," she had asserted.

The minorities in Bangladesh, especially Hindus, have come under a severe attack by Islamist elements in Bangladesh after the formation of the interim government in the country headed by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.