PM Modi among special guests invited for Bangladesh centenary, says UK envoy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among special guests invited for centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka next month because India played an intrinsic role in country's liberation, according to Bangladesh High Commissioner to UK Saida Muna Tasneem.

envoy said celebrations on March 17, which coincide with 100th birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujib -- referred to as "Bangabandhu" or far of Bengali Nation -- will kick off a year-long series of events in Bangladesh as well as UK.

"Prime Minister Modi is among special guests invited to centenary, which also has intrinsic links with Bangabandhu's homecoming in 1971," Tasneem told PTI in an interview.

" roadmap of that journey is that he first stopped in London, where he was officially recognised as president of independent state of Bangladesh and had bilateral meetings at 10 Downing Street. n he was flown to Delhi, where he held a public garing with (n Indian prime minister) Indira Gandhi," she recalled.

diplomat traced active role played by Gandhi at time alongside n UK prime minister, Edward Heath, to seek Sheikh Mujib's release from Karachi Jail in Pakistan.

"y collectively played a very proactive role in release of Bangabandhu and to ensure that he was t harmed in any way. So, at very genesis of Bangladesh, relationships were clear and Bangladesh-India ties remain as strong till date, as do UK-Bangladesh ties," she said.

In reference to Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which was passed by Indian Parliament in December last year to grant citizenship rights to persecuted mirities from three neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, envoy said implication of law was "hurtful" to Bangladesh.

" Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has said it is an internal matter of India but also quite unnecessary. Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh have done very well for mselves, especially in financial sphere, as y have a particular skill with mamatics and accounts," she said.

Amid a recent unrest over contentious law in Delhi, re have been some calls for Bangladesh to withdraw Modi's invite to centenary celebrations in Dhaka next month, a demand rejected by Bangladeshi government.