Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's office on Friday said no decision had been taken yet on his proposed visit to India, amid uncertainty over whether he would travel to New Delhi next month for the BRICS summit.
"No decision has been made yet on his India visit," PM's Press Secretary AAM Saleh Shibly told news agency PTI.
Shibly said Bangladesh was awaiting New Delhi's response to Dhaka's request for the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and "other fugitive criminals" currently staying in India.
His comments came a day after the state-run BSS news agency quoted Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kobir as saying that Dhaka was in "no hurry to arrange a top-level visit without clearly defined national interests".
"There is no justification for rushing into a top-level visit by going beyond the national interest," Kobir said, according to the BSS report.
The uncertainty over Rahman's India visit comes amid efforts by the two countries to improve bilateral ties. Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi has held a series of meetings with Bangladesh's top political leadership, including Rahman, in recent weeks, underlining the need to create a conducive environment for further advancing relations.
On Monday, Trivedi said Rahman's visit to India should take place much sooner despite differences between the two countries.
"Issues can only be sorted out by meeting, and I am very hopeful," Trivedi said at a dinner hosted in his honour by the honorary consul general of a European country.
Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry had earlier said Dhaka wanted a "favourable and propitious environment" before any high-level visit takes place.
The ministry said weeks of diplomatic discussions over a possible bilateral visit were "severely disrupted and complicated" by Sheikh Hasina's virtual press conference on August 5.
Hasina, 78, was ousted from power in August 2024 following violent student-led protests and has been living in India since fleeing Bangladesh on August 5 that year.
The subsequent interim government led by Muhammad Yunus tried Hasina in absentia before a special tribunal and sentenced her to death for ordering a deadly crackdown on protesters.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Leader of the Opposition and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman said on Friday that Rahman could visit any country, including India, but such a visit should be based on "equality, mutual respect and friendship".
"The people of this country will no longer accept anyone's hegemony. They want relations with India based on friendship, mutual respect and equality," he said while addressing a conference of party leaders in Rajshahi.
The remarks come as uncertainty continues over whether Rahman will travel to India for the BRICS summit next month.
(With inputs from PTI)
