New Delhi: India is “examining” Bangladesh’s request for additional diesel supplies, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Friday, while declining to comment on the uncertainty over whether or not Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would attend the BRICS summit or a bilateral meeting in New Delhi next month.
Bangladesh has asked India to increase diesel supplies as it grapples with a major energy crisis due to disruptions in gas and fuel supplies. Under restrictions announced this week, shopping malls, markets, shops and a range of fairs and cultural programmes have been ordered to close by 8 pm.
Bangladesh power minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood said last week that Dhaka had asked India for more diesel through the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline. Indian officials acknowledged receiving the request but stopped short of committing to additional volumes.
“We have an ongoing arrangement with Bangladesh on diesel supply. An additional request will be examined keeping in mind our own requirement, refining capacity and also the availability of diesel here,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a regular news briefing.
But the energy discussions are unfolding against the backdrop of broader diplomatic tensions. Asked Friday about a possible visit by Rahman to India, Jaiswal reiterated that New Delhi had extended an invitation but declined to elaborate. Rahman is unlikely to attend the BRICS summit in September, despite an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The invitation was sent in July through India’s High Commission in Dhaka. Modi had invited Rahman as a special guest, with Bangladesh, which is not a BRICS member, being the current chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
Dinesh Trivedi, India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh, met Rahman this week amid fresh tensions over ousted Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina’s ‘homecoming’ speech in New Delhi last week. Before the closed-door meeting, Trivedi had said that dialogue between the two leaders could help resolve outstanding problems.
Hasina, who lives in India, delivered a speech in New Delhi earlier this month criticising Bangladesh’s political and economic conditions. Dhaka, in a terse statement, sharply criticised India for allowing the remarks, saying they hurt public sentiment and threatened efforts to improve bilateral relations.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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