Dhaka, Feb. 27 -- foreign minister of Singapore and leading thinker on contemporary strategic affairs George Yeo made waves recently when he said Bangladesh should focus less on the Rohingya issue in order to get closer to ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member.

Speaking as part of the Cosmos Foundation's Distinguished Speaker Series, Yeo had said: "You need to incorporate the view of ASEAN, while not dismissing the importance of the Rohingya issue but also not allowing it to become such a dominating issue."

When I met him for a one-on-one interview a few days later, I started with this issue, in case there was anything he would like to clarify.

"My point is it is good for ASEAN and Bangladesh ...