Tarique Rahman will not attend BRICS Summit:Bangladesh says he was not invited as PM; second India visit also postponed

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will not travel to India to attend the BRICS Summit. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir has confirmed this. On Thursday, journalists asked whether Rahman would attend the summit. Kabir said, “Our Prime Minister did not receive an invitation. The invitation was extended to the BIMSTEC chairperson.” The BRICS Summit will be held on September 12 and 13 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Leaders from several countries will attend the summit. Not a BRICS member, invited as BIMSTEC chair Bangladesh is not a member of BRICS. India had invited Tarique Rahman to attend the outreach session of the BRICS Summit as the current chairperson of BIMSTEC. BIMSTEC is a regional organisation of seven countries from South and Southeast Asia. Its full name is the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. It includes India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. The organisation aims to promote trade, connectivity, security and economic cooperation among member countries. Rahman’s India visit was postponed in August too This is the second time Tarique Rahman’s visit to India has been postponed. Earlier, he was scheduled to visit India on August 22, but the trip was postponed before the visit. At the time, Bangladesh had raised the issue of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s extradition with India. Tensions between the two countries have already been high over the issue. Now, Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir has said that the government is preparing a separate bilateral visit to India for Tarique Rahman. The visit will take place when the timing is right for both countries. India-Bangladesh tensions increased after Hasina’s press conference On August 5, Sheikh Hasina held a virtual press conference from Delhi. She answered journalists’ questions on the second anniversary of the Awami League government’s ouster and also spoke about Bangladesh’s politics. The Bangladesh government strongly objected to this. Dhaka said that Hasina making public political statements while staying in India could harm efforts to normalise relations between the two countries. Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said India had been warned about the matter in advance, but still allowed her to hold the press conference. India had declined to stop Sheikh Hasina from holding the press conference. India said the event was organised by a private media organisation and that the government had no connection with it.