Rizvi advised Hasina not to overstay
Latest leaks on PM's India tour
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Adviser Gowher Rizvi did not want her to extend her visit to India in January last year fearing criticism from her political rivals at home, according to an op-ed article published on Tuesday in The Hindu.
Hasina's international affairs Adviser Rizvi believed even a 24-hour delay to accommodate a trip to Ajmer was too much, the leading Indian newspaper said.
Rizvi “sabotaged” her planned stopover in Kolkata during a “transformational” 2010 visit to India as he believed any delay in returning to Dhaka would give her opponents time to “put their spin” on the visit before she had a chance to tell the nation about it, reads The Hindu article.
Nirupama Subramanian, the writer, said the adviser informed the United States envoy to Bangladesh James F Moriarty about this, hours ahead of the January 10, 2010 visit and that Moriarty reported it in a cable sent on the same day.
At Rizvi's insistence, it had been planned that after returning home the PM would address the House detailing the results of her visit, the write-up added.
The foreign minister had been brought into the loop only in the last week before the visit, Nirupama wrote adding, the adviser was dismissive of the foreign ministry bureaucracy.
In his negotiations with the Indians, the focus had been on implementing past agreements on transit and connectivity that had long been dormant, the article quoted the adviser as saying.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments