Dhaka. Bangladesh has rejected the invitation of Prime Minister Tariq Rahman to attend the outreach session of the BRICS Summit. The Bangladesh government says that the Prime Minister was not personally invited to attend this meeting, rather the invitation was given to the current chair of BIMSTEC.
Bangladesh's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir, while talking to journalists on Thursday, made it clear that there is no question of Prime Minister Tariq Rahman attending the BRICS summit. He said that when the Prime Minister was not invited, there is no reason for the government to send any representative.
'Who called our PM? BIMSTEC Chair had received the invitation.
Humayun Kabir said, “How will we go? Has anyone from the Bangladesh government been invited? Our Prime Minister was not invited.” When asked why there was talk of the Prime Minister being invited, he replied, “Who told you that our Prime Minister was invited? The BIMSTEC Chair was invited. Then why are you asking this question?”
The outreach session of the BRICS Summit is to be held on 12 and 13 September in New Delhi. It will also include leaders invited for outreach along with leaders of member and partner countries.
What did India say?
India has invited the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, as the current chair of BIMSTEC, to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had recently said during a media briefing in New Delhi. Jaiswal had also said that a separate bilateral invitation for the Prime Minister has been in existence since February.
Bangladesh Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir said that Tariq Rahman's first visit to India cannot be a multilateral visit. He said that the Bangladesh government is working on arranging the Prime Minister's bilateral visit with India and waiting for the appropriate time.
The decision came amidst tension in India-Bangladesh relations
This decision of Bangladesh has come at a time when there is tension in the relations between New Delhi and Dhaka. The reasons for this include the presence of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in India, the demand for her extradition and some other pending issues including agreements related to water sharing. Apart from this, Bangladesh's increasing closeness with China and Pakistan has also been explained in the context of tension in the relations between the two countries.
India sent Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in February
India had sent Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to Bangladesh on 17 February. He had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Tariq Rahman's BNP government after the February 12 general elections. Om Birla also took a letter for Tariq Rehman on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this, Prime Minister Modi had congratulated his Bangladeshi counterpart and invited him to visit India with his wife and daughter.