Bangladesh Reviews PM Tarique Rahman’s Invitation To Attend BRICS Summit In India | ANI
Dhaka, July 29: Bangladesh is reviewing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to his counterpart Tarique Rahman to visit India and attend the upcoming 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman said on Wednesday. Responding to queries about the invitation, Rahman said the government was currently examining the proposal along with other international engagements of the Prime Minister.“We are currently reviewing it (invitation),” he told reporters after a meeting with India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi.Rahman said the Prime Minister had received several invitations for overseas visits and was also scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, requiring all engagements to be considered together.
The Indian High Commission in Dhaka said Trivedi reaffirmed India’s commitment to a “positive, constructive and forward-looking partnership” with Bangladesh based on mutual interests and benefits.
The envoy also met Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam and held discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation.Trivedi said the decision regarding the Prime Minister’s visit rested entirely with Bangladesh, but India was “eagerly looking forward to welcoming the head of the Bangladesh government.”“We hope the visit will take place very soon,” he said.Rahman said both countries agreed that bilateral relations should progress while keeping mutual interests and sovereign equality at the forefront.He, however, acknowledged that there were certain “irritants” in India-Bangladesh ties that needed to be addressed.“He knows about them, and I know about them. It is very important that these irritants are addressed,” Rahman said.Asked whether the issue of returning former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India was discussed, Rahman said all bilateral issues would be taken up in upcoming discussions.Hasina has been residing in India since August 2024 after leaving Bangladesh following the collapse of her government amid widespread protests. Dhaka has repeatedly sought her extradition.Also Watch:
Relations between the two neighbours deteriorated after the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus came to power following Hasina’s exit.Efforts to stabilise ties began after India was represented at Tarique Rahman’s swearing-in ceremony in Dhaka in February by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.Rahman became Prime Minister after his party’s victory in parliamentary elections, while Hasina’s Awami League was barred from contesting.In April, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman visited India in the first high-level visit by a senior member of the new Bangladesh Nationalist Party government as both sides sought to repair strained relations. On Bangladesh’s growing engagement with China and possible concerns from other partners, Rahman said Dhaka does not view its foreign relations as a zero-sum game.“Our relationship with one country is not a zero-sum game in the context of our relationship with another country. We will never strengthen relations with one country at the expense of another,” he said.The meeting between Rahman and Trivedi came ahead of a scheduled visit by US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor to Dhaka.(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)