Bangladesh PM's BRICS Summit Visit to India Remains Uncertain Amid Strained Ties

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s possible visit to India next month for the BRICS Summit “remains slim” unless New Delhi creates an appropriate environment based on “mutual trust” and extends a “dignified invitation”, his Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun has Kobir said. He said Dhaka is in no hurry to arrange a top-level visit without clearly defined national interests. "There is no justification for rushing into a top-level visit by going beyond the national interest,” Kobir told the state-run BSS news agency in an interview published on Thursday. The interview was held on August 17. The comments came amid uncertainties over Rahman's visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on September 12-13 amid fresh strains in bilateral ties over Dhaka's demand for the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. "The possibility of the Prime Minister visiting India ahead of the upcoming BRICS Summit remains slim unless an appropriate environment is created based on consensus between the two countries on specific issues and a dignified invitation," Kobir said. However, he said, Bangladesh could take a positive view of participating in the BRICS Summit if an "appropriate" bilateral environment is created based on "mutual trust" and consensus between the two countries. On Tuesday, Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed that the two leaders need to meet and that he wants his Bangladeshi counterpart Rahman's proposed visit to India to be "memorable". "Prime Minister Modi just mentioned one thing. We need to meet. And you can tell them on my behalf that you have the prime minister of India's assurance that when the honourable prime minister of Bangladesh visits India, he will have such an honourable reception as he deserves," he said at a reception hosted by the Indian High Commission for leading Bangladeshi business leaders and a visiting delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry.