State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam will not participate in the ‘Raisina Dialogue 2020’ slated from January 14 to January 16 in New Delhi, confirmed diplomatic sources yesterday. The state minister will be accompanying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her there-day official visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) instead of joining the dialogue.

Foreign Affairs Ministry of Bangladesh in a statement yesterday said, “State Minister Shahariar Alam was invited as a speaker in the Rasina Dialogue which coincides with his visit to the UAE to accompany the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.” “As such State Minister  Alam could not avail the participation. A regret letter, on this regard, has already been communicated with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).” The statement also reads there was “bilateral engagement scheduled during the visit” and the inability of Shahariar’s participation has “no other connection.”  

The Raisina Dialogue is India’s annual flagship platform on geo-politics and geo-economics. The ORF hosts the event in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India since 2016.

Shahariar is the third amongst the government high-ups from Bangladesh who cancelled their India trip. Earlier, Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan had cancelled their scheduled visits to India. After Momen had cancelled his visit, the MEA said that any speculation related to Citizenship Amendment Bill was “unwarranted”.