Bangladesh says India should create ‘conducive environment’ for PM Rahman’s visit, why is Dhaka worried?

Ahead of his likely visit to India, Bangladesh on Sunday said it wants New Delhi needs to create a “conducive environment” for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s possible visit, local media reported. The statement from Dhaka came amid uncertainties over Tariq Rahman’s visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on September 12-13. It should be noted that Rahman met Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi last week, and sought former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s extradition to Bangladesh. But there was no clarity on whether he would visit New Delhi.

 Appropriate environment needs to be created for Rehman’s visit: Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s foreign ministry spokesperson Shahidul Karim told Daily Star newspaper on Sunday that they have made their position clear on this matter and are of the view that an appropriate environment needs to be created for this visit. By an “appropriate environment”, Karim highlighted the issue of Bangladesh seeking Hasina’s extradition, according to BDnews24 media portal.

This assumes significance as the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh have witnessed strain after Hasina virtually addressed the press on August 5 in New Delhi, where she said she is determined to return home in December to put the country on the “right track” by restoring democracy, notwithstanding the risk of facing the threat of imprisonment or a death sentence.

Bangladesh expresses outrage over media interaction of Sheikh Hasina

In the wake of these developments, Bangladesh expressed outrage over the media interaction, saying the event had hurt the sentiments of its people and could adversely affect efforts to improve bilateral ties with India.

Bangladesh described Hasina as an “absconding, convicted genocider”. However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs on August 7 said that it had no role in the media event concerning Hasina and it does not endorse anything said at the forum about the Bangladesh government.

Days after tRahman’s meeting with Trivedi, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman made it clear that the BRICS invitation was not extended to the prime minister personally, but rather “addressed to the chairperson of BIMSTEC.”

BIMSTEC is an international group of seven countries

For the general information, the BIMSTEC is an international group of seven countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Bangladesh holds the official state chairmanship of the regional group.

However, the Ministry of External Affairs said on August 14: “We have extended an invitation to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for a bilateral visit. We’ve also extended an invitation to the prime minister of Bangladesh for a visit to India for the outreach session of the BRICS Summit.”

With inputs from ANI

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