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New Delhi has claimed that India extended two separate invitations to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. One was for a bilateral state visit, and the other was an invitation to participate in the BRICS summit’s outreach session as the current chairman of BIMSTEC.
This information was provided by spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ weekly briefing on Tuesday (September 15). He stated that Tarique Rahman was initially invited to visit India as Prime Minister. Later, due to his role as BIMSTEC Chairman, he was sent an invitation to participate in the 18th BRICS summit’s outreach session. Consequently, he had two separate invitations.
India’s explanation comes after recent comments by Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Humayun Kabir. On September 10, he had stated that Tarique Rahman was invited to the BRICS summit not as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, but as the Chairman of BIMSTEC. His contention was that if there was no invitation as Prime Minister, the question of visiting India would not arise.
Regarding this, India’s Ministry of External Affairs stated that Bangladesh is neither a member nor a partner country of BRICS. However, Tarique Rahman was invited to participate in the BRICS summit’s outreach session as the current chairman of BIMSTEC. The 18th BRICS summit was held in New Delhi on September 12 and 13.
Meanwhile, India stated that the invitation for the bilateral visit was extended earlier, in February. After taking office as Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla visited Bangladesh on behalf of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At that time, he congratulated Tarique Rahman and handed over a letter containing an invitation to visit India with his wife and children.
A report by the Indian media outlet Times of India stated that the Bangladesh government considered Tarique Rahman’s potential first visit to India as a bilateral visit. At the same time, Bangladesh had previously maintained that the BRICS-related invitation was extended in his capacity as BIMSTEC Chairman, not as Prime Minister.
India’s latest statement aims to clear up the confusion surrounding the nature and number of invitations. New Delhi claims that the BRICS summit invitation and the bilateral visit invitation were entirely separate and given for different purposes.
Source: Times of India