PM not attending BRICS summit in India; no representative either: Humaiun Kobir

No representative from Bangladesh will attend the BRICS summit being held in India, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir has said. The state minister made the remarks while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of an international seminar on the Rohingya issue at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Thursday. The comments were later posted on the verified Facebook page of the BNP Media Cell. Humaiun Kobir said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had been invited to the BRICS summit in his capacity as chair of BIMSTEC, the regional grouping of seven Bay of Bengal countries. However, he had not been invited in his capacity as Bangladesh’s prime minister. The state minister further said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would visit India on a bilateral visit when conditions were favourable.

There had been discussions between India and Bangladesh for several days over whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would visit New Delhi. The BRICS summit is scheduled to take place in New Delhi this Saturday and Sunday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited Bangladesh’s prime minister to attend the summit’s outreach session in his capacity as chair of BIMSTEC. Earlier, after Tarique Rahman took office as Bangladesh’s prime minister in February, India invited him for a bilateral visit. Diplomatic-level discussions subsequently took place between the two countries over a possible visit by the prime minister to India. Meanwhile, tensions between the two countries increased after ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina joined an event in Delhi virtually on 5 August, marking the second anniversary of the July mass uprising, and spoke directly to journalists. Although discussions over a possible visit by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to India continued afterwards, no…