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Former Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Veena Sikri has strongly criticized the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry’s recent stance linking the extradition of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to India. She described Dhaka’s position as “extremely rude” and “arrogant.”
Sikri made the remarks in an interview with Indian news agency ANI.
Referring to a recent social media post by Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry, she called it “very rude” and “arrogant,” saying such a statement was unacceptable. She also claimed that the governments of Bangladesh and India were still holding discussions to finalize the date of Tarique Rahman’s visit to India.
“I find it very surprising that the Bangladesh government is trying to link the extradition of Sheikh Hasina with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit. The statement or Facebook post issued by the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry yesterday was very rude and arrogant. Creating such a situation is completely unacceptable,” Sikri said.
She said she did not know what discussions were taking place within Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry. However, she maintained that talks between the governments of India and Bangladesh were still ongoing and that preparations, including the date of the visit, were being discussed. She also claimed that the Bangladesh government had not said that Tarique Rahman would not visit India.
According to Sikri, such remarks indicate that the Bangladesh government is not attaching sufficient importance to Tarique Rahman’s visit to India. She said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited Tarique Rahman twice since he became prime minister, but Bangladesh had not responded to the invitations.
“Making public comments on such a sensitive issue is really unacceptable. It reflects the Bangladesh government’s attitude that it is not giving sufficient importance to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to India,” Sikri said.
She said that after Tarique Rahman was sworn in as prime minister on February 17, Modi’s first invitation to him was also the first invitation from a foreign leader that he received. The invitation was extended to Tarique Rahman and his family to visit India for a bilateral trip at any convenient time.
According to Sikri, there was an expectation at the time that India would be the destination of Tarique Rahman’s first foreign visit. However, that did not happen. She said that even after six months, Bangladesh had not responded on the matter.
She further said that a few weeks ago, India had invited Tarique Rahman for a second time to attend the BRICS summit as the chair of BIMSTEC. However, Bangladesh had not responded to that invitation either.
