PM Tarique Rahman had 2 invitations from India, says MEA

NEW DELHI, SEPT 15: India today said that it extended not just one but two invitations to the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Tarique Rahman- one for a bilateral meeting and another for the BRICS summit as Chair of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

Replying to a question at the bi-weekly media briefing here on Tuesday, the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, RandhirJaiswal, said, “ I havesaid this before. We had invited the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for a bilateral meeting and subsequently for the BRICS Summit as Chair of BIMSTEC. So, he had received two invitations- one on the bilateral side and the other for the BRICS summit as well."

Asked to comment on a news report that the Bangladesh Prime Minister will come to India when the timing is conducive and that he was invited not as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh but as Chair of BIMSTEC, the MEA Official Spokesperson said, " On the visit of the Prime Minister, we have not heard anything. As and when we have something to update you with, we will surely come back to you."

A month before the BRICS summit here, Bangladesh said that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's proposed visit to India will depend on the extradition of former premier Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh's foreign ministry also said that Dhaka had urged New Delhi to accelerate the process of extraditing Hasina and other fugitives.

In the run up to the summit, there was a lot of speculation over Tarique Rahman's presence at the BRICS summit but the MEA had no update to offer on his visit at its bi-weekly media briefings.

The visit  to India for the just concluded two-day BRICS summit would have been Tarique Rahman's first official visit after becoming the Prime Minister.

 Asked to assess the success of the BRICS summit, RandhirJaiswal described the summit as a major success. "We were able to forge consensus among partners and BRICS members on some of the most contentious issues."