Bangladesh PM was invited for Brics meet and bilateral visit: Govt

Tarique Rahman

NEW DELHI: Govt reiterated Tuesday that it had invited Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman for both Brics and a bilateral visit. In a letter dated July 14, accessed by TOI, PM Narendra Modi had invited Rahman for the Brics summit in his capacity as Bimstec chair and said his participation would "greatly enrich the deliberations".After Rahman's swearing-in as PM, Modi had invited him for a bilateral visit. Dhaka, however, pulled out of talks for finalisation of the visit dates, apparently because of the lack of any firm commitment from India on ex-PM Sheikh Hasina's extradition.MEA was responding to Dhaka's claim that India had invited the Bimstec chair and not Rahman. "I have said this before as well, we had invited the PM of Bangladesh on a bilateral visit. Subsequently, he was invited for Brics summit as chair of Bimstec. So, he had received two invitations, one on the bilateral side and the other for Brics," said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.Modi had also said in his letter that this year's summit was of special significance as it marked 20 years of formal establishment of Brics.