Discussion resumes on Tarique Rahman’s Delhi visit after overcoming tensions

The Hindu has reported citing diplomatic sources that officials of Bangladesh and India have again started discussions on arranging a visit of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to New Delhi after the recent strains in relations between the two countries. Work is underway on the possibility of organizing the visit sometime in November.

According to the report, meetings between officials of the two countries are continuing in Dhaka. The agenda for the possible visit is also being prepared. Issues such as normalizing bilateral trade affected by political instability and renewal of the Ganges water-sharing agreement may find place in it.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will visit New York this month to attend the session of the United Nations General Assembly. He has several diplomatic programmes in October and November. Attempts are being made to fix the schedule for the Delhi visit in November at a convenient time among these programmes, The Hindu has reported citing diplomatic sources.

Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka Dinesh Trivedi has recently met several ministers of Bangladesh and advisers to the Prime Minister. Among them are Water Resources Minister Mohammad Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee and Prime Minister’s Adviser Mahdi Amin.

Earlier, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was invited as the current chair of BIMSTEC to the BRICS summit held in New Delhi, but Bangladesh did not send any representative to the summit. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir had then said Bangladesh is planning to restructure relations with India and will prioritise bilateral visits at an appropriate time.

Earlier the Indian government had invited Prime Minister Tarique Rahman for a bilateral visit. Spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said on September 16 that Tarique Rahman was invited for a bilateral visit as well as to the BRICS summit, but no response was received from Dhaka regarding the visit.

Fresh strains appeared in Dhaka-Delhi relations following widespread reactions in Bangladesh over Sheikh Hasina’s virtual press conference in August. Sheikh Hasina has been staying in India since being ousted from power on August 5, 2024. Dhaka has also been requesting her return to Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Tarique Rahman posted greetings to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media on his birthday on September 17. In reply, Modi also thanked him. This public exchange between the two leaders has also come up for discussion in the recent context of Dhaka-Delhi relations.

The Hindu report further said Tarique Rahman had maintained contact with India even while staying in London. The report mentioned contacts between BNP and India around the January 2024 election as well as a visit by a BNP delegation to Delhi in 2018.

However, no final date has been announced yet for Tarique Rahman’s Delhi visit in November. Officials of the two countries are working on the possible timing and agenda of the visit, as has emerged from The Hindu’s report.