Sudden announcement by India’s Rashtrapati Bhavan sparks surprise, speculation

Has Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to India become uncertain? If not, why would the Rashtrapati Bhavan make such an announcement, only to withdraw it within an hour? This was the subject of intense speculation on Friday afternoon. However, the reason behind the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s announcement remained shrouded in mystery.

The diplomatic circles of both countries have been abuzz for several days over Tarique Rahman’s possible visit to India. At one point, it was thought that Tarique Rahman would visit India on a bilateral trip before attending the BRICS summit’s outreach session as chairman of BIMSTEC.

Just as that possibility was gaining momentum, the Bangladesh government raised serious questions about the conduct of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is staying in India after being convicted. Bangladesh also sought certain assurances or imposed conditions regarding Hasina’s future conduct while staying in India.

Since then, speculation surrounding Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit had subsided. Against this backdrop, the Rashtrapati Bhavan announcement came at around 2:00 pm on Friday, followed shortly afterwards by a statement from the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

Navika Gupta, deputy press secretary to the President, issued a press release at 2:13 pm saying that the ‘Change of Guard’ ceremony would not be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday.

The reason given was that a full rehearsal would be held at that time for a ceremonial reception for the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The Rashtrapati Bhavan’s announcement was also circulated by the PIB shortly afterwards. This triggered fresh speculation over the stalled visit.

The media immediately became active. Questions were repeatedly raised with the Ministry of External Affairs on the matter. Was Tarique Rahman coming after all? After some time, the Ministry of External Affairs said the announcement was incorrect.

The statement was removed from the PIB website. At 3:32pm, Navika Gupta also announced that the earlier statement had been withdrawn. Although it became clear that someone had made a mistake, the identity of the person responsible and how such a mistake occurred remained a mystery.

According to various sources, Tarique Rahman’s visit to India had been considered final. The belief became stronger following Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi’s visit to Delhi.

Accordingly, a decision had been taken to cancel the ‘Change of Guard’ ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday, 22 August. A dinner at Hyderabad House on 24 August had also reportedly been confirmed. It is being heard that invitations had even been sent to many people. However, there has been no official confirmation of these reports.

Still, the question remains: How could such a major mistake have occurred? Who is responsible for it? There is no answer to these questions in any quarter. The ‘Change of Guard’ ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan is a longstanding military tradition. The ceremony takes place every Saturday morning, when the old guards responsible for the President’s security hand over their duties to a new guard contingent and leave.

The visually impressive military ceremony features a cavalry parade and the sound of a military band. Tickets for the ceremony are also sold to the public. The military ceremony takes place for around 50 minutes in the broad, gravel-covered courtyard of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

At a briefing by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Friday, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked about the possibility of the Bangladeshi prime minister visiting India. He said that if there was any such information, it would be shared.

Clearly, the possibility that had emerged of a bilateral visit this month does not appear to be materialising for the time being. However, according to informed circles in both countries, discussions at the government level are continuing on the matter.

Prothom Alo’s diplomatic correspondent reports that when Dhaka’s diplomatic sources were asked about reports published in the Indian media regarding the prime minister’s visit to India next week, they said the reports were not accurate.

Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Prothom Alo that there were no instructions regarding preparations for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s possible visit to Delhi. As a result, there was no opportunity to make preparations for the India visit.

However, multiple government sources told this correspondent in the evening that discussions over the prime minister’s possible visit were continuing under directions from the political leadership of both countries.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Saleh Shibli told Reuters that no decision had yet been made regarding the prime minister’s visit. He said Dhaka was waiting for India’s response on the extradition of Sheikh Hasina and other fugitive criminals.