Modi invites Bimstec to swearing-in, cuts out Pak PM Imran Khan

New Delhi: Keeping Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan out of the guest list, India on Monday invited leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) — that includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand — for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 30.

Leaders of Kyrgyzstan — the current Chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation — and Mauritius, whose Prime Minister was the chief guest at this year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, have also been invited.

An invite to Bimstec nations means that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will not be an invitee since Pakistan is not a member of the grouping. In fact, the Indian government has been promoting Bimstec in a big way instead of south Asian grouping South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) ever since relations with Pakistan soured in 2016.

There are indications that the government chose Bimstec since it would have avoided uncomfortable questions on why Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was not invited. This also indicates that the government wants to tread cautiously in the case of Pakistan, given the bitterness in ties in the past few months over the Pulwama attack and Balakot airstrikes.

India became a member of the predominantly central Asian grouping SCO two years ago and has very close ties with Indian ocean nation Mauritius. A majority of the population of Mauritius is of Indian origin.

With the exception of south-east Asian countries Myanmar and Thailand, which are members of Asean, the rest of the Bimstec countries are also members of Saarc.

It may be recalled that during his swearing-in ceremony in 2014, Mr. Modi had invited leaders of all Saarc nations, including the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Also, the P-5 countries (permanent members of the UN Security Council — US, Russia, UK, France and China) have so far not been invited perhaps due to the short notice. This newspaper confirmed that Russia and China had not been invited till Monday evening.

The MEA said, “The government of India has invited leaders of the Bimstec member states for the swearing-in ceremony. This is in line with the government’s focus on its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.”

Meanwhile, for a second time, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will miss Modi's swearing-in 30 as she will be on a three-nation foreign visit.

According to a government release in Dhaka, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq will attend the ceremony as the senior most Cabinet member of the Bangladesh government.

Hasina will be on a tri-nation visit to Japan, Saudi Arabia and Finland beginning Tuesday, it said. She could not attend the previous swearing-in ceremony of Modi in 2014 as she was abroad then too. The Bangladesh PM was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Modi following his election victory, reflecting the “extraordinarily close and cordial ties” between India and Bangladesh, and the excellent rapport that the two leaders enjoy.