Plans for a visit to India by Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman early next week have fallen through, though the two sides continue to be in touch to explore the possibility of a trip within the month of August, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not give any reasons for the change in plans. Also Read I Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to be next Bangladesh President: Good or bad news for India, Sheikh Hasina? Preparations had begun for a possible visit by Rahman during August 23-24, including a ceremonial welcome and banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and official meetings on the second day, but the people familiar with planning for the trip said it was not going ahead.
Back channel contacts between the two sides, involving Humayun Kabir, the foreign affairs adviser to the Bangladesh PM, are continuing to explore the possibility of arranging Rahman’s visit later this month, one of the people said. The Indian side has extended an invitation for Rahman’s bilateral visit and taken all steps to welcome him and to prepare an agenda to take bilateral relations forward, and it is up to the Bangladesh side to take a call on the matter, a second person said. On Friday afternoon, the Rashtrapati Bhavan put out a press release that said the formal “Change of Guard Ceremony” at the forecourt of the presidential palace would not be held on August 22 “due to the full rehearsal for the ceremonial welcome of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh”. A subsequent statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said the press release had been withdrawn.
Hasina’s presence in India, where she fled after the fall of her government, and her use of Indian soil to attack the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have emerged as the main irritant in bilateral ties. Rahman’s visit is being seen as key to efforts by the two sides to normalise bilateral relations after a period of unprecedented strains going back to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in a student-led uprising in August 2024 and its replacement by an interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus.
Kabir, who is expected to be elevated to the status of minister of state for foreign affairs as part of a reshuffle, told state-run BSS news agency on Thursday that the chances of Rahman visiting India ahead of the Brics Summit during September 12-13 “ remains slim unless an appropriate environment is created based on consensus between the two countries on specific issues and a dignified invitation”.
