No new information on Bangladesh PM’s participation in BRICS summit: Jaiswal
India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has said there is no new information on whether Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will attend the BRICS summit to be held in New Delhi.
He made the remarks in response to a question at the Indian foreign ministry’s weekly briefing on Tuesday.
A journalist asked how many heads of state or government had confirmed their participation in the BRICS summit scheduled for later this week, and whether the Bangladesh government had formally informed the Indian government about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s participation.
In response, Randhir Jaiswal said he had no new information regarding Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s participation in the outreach session of the BRICS summit in his capacity as chair of BIMSTEC.
He also did not provide details about which countries or leaders would attend the summit.
The BRICS summit will be held in New Delhi next Saturday and Sunday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, as chair of BIMSTEC, to attend the outreach session of the summit. Earlier, in February, after Tarique Rahman assumed office as Bangladesh’s prime minister, India had invited him for a bilateral visit.
Subsequently, diplomatic discussions were held between the two countries over a possible visit by the prime minister to India. However, tensions in bilateral relations increased after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power, virtually joined an event in New Delhi on 5 August, the second anniversary of the July mass uprising, and spoke directly with journalists. Although discussions over a possible visit by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to India continued, no date was finalised.
A few days ago, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir had indicated in a conversation with the media that there was virtually no possibility of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman visiting India before the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi met Bangladesh President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in Dhaka on Tuesday morning. A journalist asked whether the two had discussed Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s possible visit to India and the extradition of Sheikh Hasina.
Jaiswal did not respond directly to the question about Hasina. He said the meeting was a courtesy call and that various aspects of Bangladesh-India relations were discussed. The talks focused on how the two countries could further advance and strengthen bilateral relations and people-to-people contacts in the future.
Regarding the possibility of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit, he said he had no new information.
In response to another question at the briefing, the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said, “We have development cooperation, connectivity, people-to-people contacts, capacity building and engagement in various other areas with Bangladesh. This engagement is continuing.”