India informs Bangladesh PM invited to BRICS summit
Randhir Jaiswal
Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been invited to visit India on a bilateral trip. He has also been invited to attend the BRICS Outreach Session to be held in New Delhi. Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal disclosed the information at the ministry’s weekly briefing in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The South Block spokesperson said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was formally invited to visit India shortly after the new government took office in Bangladesh. At the same time, Bangladesh has been invited to participate in the BRICS Outreach Session as the current chair of BIMSTEC, an initiative for multilateral technical and economic cooperation.
Jaiswal also mentioned Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s meeting with Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi. He described the meeting as positive and encouraging. He said various issues of mutual interest between the two countries were discussed at the meeting. Different aspects of bilateral relations between the two countries also came up for discussion.
The 18th BRICS Summit is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 12 and 13. Bangladesh is the current chair of BIMSTEC. The organization’s secretariat is also based in Dhaka. India extended the invitation by sending a diplomatic letter to Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on July 14.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman said on Monday that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had not yet decided whether he would attend the BRICS Outreach Session.
After meeting with the Indian high commissioner at the Secretariat, he said Dhaka had received two separate invitations from India. One was for a bilateral visit, while the other was for attending the BRICS Summit as the current chair of BIMSTEC.
Jaiswal also commented on Dhaka’s request to send ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina back to Bangladesh. He said, “The matter is being reviewed according to the established rules. If there is any new information, New Delhi will inform later.”
Jaiswal also said the murder of Osman Gani (Hadi) is a legal matter. He said an investigation into the case is currently underway.
