Bangladesh invites Modi to attend Tarique Rahman’s swearing-in ceremony| India News

The invitation from Dhaka was conveyed to the Indian side late on Saturday night, hours after leaders of Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) indicated that leaders of regional countries would be invited to participate in the inauguration.

Modi is unlikely to go to Dhaka as he is set to hold a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai on February 17, the people said on condition of anonymity. Macron, who is visiting India to participate in the AI Impact Summit next week, is set to begin his trip in Mumbai.

The Indian side is expected to be represented at the inauguration of Rahman by a senior leader, possibly the vice president or the external affairs minister, the people said. The Indian side also doesn’t want to be seen as rushing into a rapprochement with the Bangladeshi side, though resetting relations that had fallen to a fresh low remains a priority, they said.

“There is also the optics of sharing a stage with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who is also expected to be invited to the event,” one person said.

It is understood that Bangladesh plans to invite the leaders of most member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), which was initiated by Rahman’s father, former president Ziaur Rahman, and the heads of state or government of some other friendly countries, such as China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye, the people said.

Rahman said on Saturday that his government’s foreign policy will focus on protecting the interests of the people of Bangladesh, and it will not be country-centric.

In his first phone call with Rahman on Friday, Modi said he looked forward to working with the BNP leader to strengthen relations and to advance common development goals.

Rahman, 60, is set to become Bangladesh’s first male head of government in 35 years after the BNP’s massive victory in the general election.