Tarique Unlikely To Visit India Before BRICS Summit

New Delhi: The chances of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman visiting India before the BRICS Summit are “very slim” unless a suitable environment is created and New Delhi extends a “respectful invitation”, his foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir was quoted as saying.

Kabir also called for a change in the “mindset or perspective” of India’s current leadership towards Bangladesh.

“It is necessary to be sure what kind of relationship India wants to build with the elected government in Bangladesh, which has a mandate from two-thirds of the people,” Kabir was quoted by Bangladeshi state-run media as saying.

“There is no justification for a hasty summit visit beyond national interests. Unless a suitable environment is created based on consensus between both countries on specific issues and a respectful invitation, the chances of the Prime Minister’s visit to India before the upcoming BRICS Summit are very slim,” he said.

Kabir said Bangladesh was not rushing the matter and would protect its national interests. However, he added that Dhaka would respond positively to participation in the BRICS Summit if the two countries reached a consensus and created a suitable environment.

He said relations between the two countries and a visit by the head of the Bangladesh government depended on a change in the Indian leadership’s outlook.

Kabir also said India must understand the circumstances surrounding the July 2024 uprising that ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Earlier this week, India said Bangladesh’s request for Hasina’s extradition was being examined under established procedures. New Delhi added that it wanted positive relations with Dhaka based on mutuality of interests and reciprocity.

Bangladesh foreign ministry spokesperson Shahidul Karim was quoted as saying on Sunday that a “propitious environment” had to be created for Rahman’s visit. He also said Dhaka had urged India to respond to its extradition request.

Hasina’s recent virtual address to a media event in New Delhi, during which she criticised the situation in Bangladesh and vowed to return, drew a sharp response from the BNP government. Dhaka renewed its demand that India extradite her to face trial.

New Delhi subsequently said the Indian government had no role in the event, which was organised by a private media entity, and did not endorse any remarks made there, particularly those concerning Bangladesh’s duly constituted government.

Hasina fled to India after being ousted amid student-led protests and widespread violence in 2024. She has since been living in exile.

The 78-year-old Awami League chief was sentenced to death in absentia last year by a special tribunal in Dhaka for crimes against humanity over her government’s crackdown on the protests. Hasina rejected the charges as baseless.

The extradition request was made by the erstwhile interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, subsequently came to power following elections earlier this year.