Tarique Rahman's India visit unlikely in near term: Report

Highlights:

• India and Bangladesh have yet to agree on dates for Tarique Rahman's bilateral visit
• Bangladesh skipped last month's BRICS Summit
• The two sides are also working on dates for meetings on trade and consular matters

A visit by Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to New Delhi is unlikely in the near future amid busy diplomatic schedules in both countries and unresolved arrangements for the trip, Hindustan Times reported today (6 October).

Rahman is expected to travel to Japan in October, followed by visits to Türkiye and Saudi Arabia in November, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, is scheduled to visit the Philippines from 16 to 18 November to attend the ASEAN Summit. He is also expected to travel to the United States, Canada and Belgium in December, according to the report.

India has extended two separate invitations to Rahman - one for a bilateral visit and another to attend the BRICS Summit in his capacity as chair of the BIMSTEC grouping.

The Bangladesh government, however, skipped last month's BRICS Summit, while the two countries have yet to settle on dates for Rahman's bilateral visit.

Trade meeting remains unresolved

Bangladesh had proposed holding a meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade in Delhi, followed by a meeting of the commerce secretaries of the two countries.

However, New Delhi has conveyed to Dhaka that such a meeting can be held only after meetings of other institutional mechanisms dealing with issues including transit and border trade, according to people cited by Hindustan Times.

The two sides are also working on dates for a meeting of the Joint Working Group on Consular Matters, which Bangladesh will host, the report said.

Meanwhile, BBC reported today that Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day after returning from Dhaka.