Indian media wonders why Bangladesh not invited to US democracy summit but Pakistan is
Several Indian media outlets have recently criticised USA's decision to not include Bangladesh in Joe Biden's Summit for Democracy.
Dubbing Bangladesh's exclusion "curious", Times of India wrote, "It's clear that American interests in various countries, region and other stakes played a large role in making of the guest list."
"Pakistan made it to the list despite a general agreement that the democratic set-up there is uniquely defined," adds the report.
The Federal News on the other hand wrote "While Afghanistan's exclusion was expected, Pakistan's inclusion and Bangladesh's exclusion have surprised many."
It also pointed out that the exclusion came within a week of a top US diplomat, Ambassador Kelly Keiderling, praising Bangladesh for a whole host of achievements.
Subir Bhaumik, a former BBC and Reuters correspondent, and the author of the piece on The Federal News, went on writing that Bangladesh's exclusion from the Democracy Summit comes as a "shock for both Dhaka and Delhi".
"Because it means the US now officially considers Bangladesh at par with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and the UAE, all allies of the US but which Washington considers as countries 'woefully lacking in democracy' and have thus been excluded from the list of invitees to the Democracy Summit," he adds.
Bloomberg Quint referred to the summit as "South Asian Diplomatic Flub."
"Most puzzling, perhaps, is the choice to exclude Bangladesh while inviting Pakistan," it wrote about the list of invitees.
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