As the Bangladesh Parliament continues to seek the return of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, reports from Dhaka claim that a high-level meeting of senior leaders of the Awami League with ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi was cancelled.
According to local Bangladeshi media, the meeting was scheduled to be held in Delhi on September 18. Though some senior leaders had already arrived in the capital for the meeting, it was cancelled at the last minute.
Though there was an official statement on this, a top Awami League leader confirmed to the Dhaka-based newspaper Daily Wada that the decision to cancel the meeting was communicated a day before the scheduled time. However, he did not give any reason for the cancellation of the meeting.
The meeting was scheduled to be held at the residence of Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi. The plan was to discuss the party's political and organisational strategies. Speculation was that Sheikh Hasina’s return to Bangladesh in December was also on the agenda.
The alleged cancellation also came after Bangladesh registered
a protest against the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia (FCC) event, which saw Hasina’s participation. The Awami League later distanced itself from the event, stating the event was not organised or sponsored by the party. New Delhi said the event was organised by a private organisation and that the Indian government had no role in it.
The reports about cancellation also come as Mahdi Amin, advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and spokesperson for his office, told the Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka, Dinesh Trivedi, that Sheikh Hasina should not try to create any kind of unstable situation in Dhaka.
India should keep a close eye on these individuals on Indian soil so that they do not attempt to destabilise the internal situation in Bangladesh, Amin told Trivedi.
Meanwhile, India and Bangladesh have resumed bilateral talks to decide on Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to India. Efforts are under way to arrange his Delhi visit during a suitable window in November, The Hindu said.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi has held meetings with several officials in recent days, including Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee and Prime Minister’s Advisor Mahdi Amin, it added.
