What officials say about foreign minister’s exclusion from entourage

Foreign minister AK Abdul MomenFile photo

The name of foreign minister AK Abdul Momen was excluded from the list of entourage members of prime minister Sheikh Hasina in her visit to India at the eleventh hour, said the foreign ministry sources.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka for New Delhi on a four-day state visit at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Monday morning.

Wishing not to be named, several official of the ministry said through his unwarranted remarks at different times the foreign minister has drawn criticism. Recently at a Janmashtami programme in Chattogram he said, “During my visit to India I told them that Sheikh Hasina must be kept in power.” This has topped all of his previous remarks and astounded everyone especially because it was made when the schedule of the prime minister’s visit to India was less than a month.

The remarks, made just before the summit of two prime ministers, also created unease among the officials. It is apprehended that the foreign minister was excluded from the prime minister’s entourage list for this.

Several Bangladeshi diplomats stationed in Dhaka and Delhi confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo this morning. But they did not say anything about the reasons of exclusion of foreign minister Momen.

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The diplomatic sources said the higher echelon of the government at the dead of Sunday night confirmed the exclusion of foreign minister AK Abdul Momen from the visit to India.

The diplomatic sources in Delhi were confirmed about the decision just before the special VVIP flight was set to leave with prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her entourage members from Dhaka in the morning.

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen, at a press conference held in the foreign ministry in Dhaka on Sunday, said he will accompany the prime minister to India.