At Time of Bilateral Tensions, Bangladesh PM Tarique Conveys Birthday Greetings to Modi
New Delhi: Bangladesh's Prime Minister Tarique Rahman wished PM Narendra Modi a happy birthday in an X post on Thursday (September 17), extending the courtesy at a time of some tension in bilateral ties, including over his potential visit to India.
Rahman posted his message on Thursday night. “Warmest birthday wishes to Prime Minister [Modi]. Wishing you many happy returns of the day. May your dedicated service to the people of India always be accompanied by good health and high spirit,” he wrote at 10:20 pm.
Modi responded half an hour later: “Thank you, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, for your warm wishes. I deeply appreciate your kind words.”
India and Bangladesh were in talks over a potential bilateral visit by Rahman to New Delhi but Dhaka said last month that the process stood “vitiated” after deposed premier Sheikh Hasina – whose extradition Rahman's government has repeatedly sought – addressed a press conference from the Indian capital in spite of the Bangladeshi government's prior objections.
Although the Modi government invited Rahman to visit the BRICS summit in Delhi in his capacity as chair of the BIMSTEC regional grouping, the prime minister neither attended nor sent a representative. Earlier, India had invited him to make a bilateral visit when he took office in Dhaka in February.
Minister of state for foreign affairs Humayun Kabir said last week that Dhaka feels Rahman's first visit to India must not pertain to a multilateral event. The prime minister would make a bilateral trip “when the environment is favourable and mutual respect is maintained”, he said.
Thursday's exchange between Rahman and Modi occurred hours after Indian high commissioner Dinesh Trivedi called on Rahman's adviser and spokesperson Mahdi Amin in Dhaka. Amin conveyed that New Delhi must ‘ensure that fugitive allies of fascism and convicted criminals staying in India’ – a reference to Hasina – ‘cannot make any attempt to create instability’, according to the state-run BSS news agency.
While a number of important matters lie on the agenda of a bilateral visit, including the renewal of the 1996 Ganga Water Sharing Treaty that will expire in three months, energy supplies, trade and border issues, Rahman faces burgeoning anti-India sentiment at home and criticism that insist Dhaka should secure more assurances from India before agreeing to a high-level engagement.
On Wednesday, the acting secretary general of Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party Ruhul Kabir Rizvi claimed that India is trying to punish Bangladesh for the prime minister's decision not to visit the BRICS summit and also alleged a conspiracy in New Delhi giving refuge to Hasina.
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