Bangladesh speaker to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Bangladesh parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will represent Bangladesh at the May 26 swearing-in ceremony of India's next prime minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M. Shahriar Alam has confirmed to bdnews24.com of her leaving Dhaka the day before for the event.

India earlier invited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or her designated representative to attend the ceremony at Modi's request.

Hasina will leave Dhaka for Tokyo May 24 night on an official visit that will run through to May 28.

The junior minister said India invited the prime minister also for a courtesy meeting after the ceremony.

But he said Hasina's Japan visit was scheduled long before.

"So, the prime minister has designated the speaker for the ceremony," he said.

When he met President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday, Modi had expressed his wish that invitations for his swearing-in be sent to all heads of the SAARC countries.

There is no recent precedent for inviting foreign heads of government when an Indian prime minister has been sworn-in, but Modi has a penchant for doing the most unusual.

The SAARC nations are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.