Bangladesh again not on list of invitees

Bangladesh has not been invited to the Biden Administration's Summit of Democracy for the second time, while its South Asian neighbours -- India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan -- made it to the list this year.

Dhaka had expressed displeasure when the US State Department published the list of 110 invitees to the first democracy summit held in December 2021. However, Foreign Minster AK Abdul Momen was optimistic that the Biden administration would invite Bangladesh this year.

Even, the then US South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau Deputy Assistant Secretary Ambassador Kelly Keiderling during her visit to Bangladesh in 2021 had said that Biden administration could expand the list and hopefully Bangladesh could participate in the next summit.

However, that hope has been dashed as the list of the 110 invitees to the second Summit for Democracy published yesterday does not contain the name of Bangladesh.

Asked about it, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told journalists yesterday that Bangladesh is not worried about the matter.

Being invited to the summit does not prove that a country has strong democracy, he said, adding that it is the US that can better explain why one country is invited or not.

Contacted, US Embassy Acting Spokesperson Bryan Schiller today told The Daily Star that President Biden invited democracies that represented a diversity of regions, country sizes, and other factors. 

Following the first summit, the US invited all participant countries to make commitments and make 2022 a "Year of Action" to strengthen democracy. 

"We also encouraged countries not invited to the first summit, including Bangladesh, to make public their own Year of Action plans to demonstrate their commitment to strengthening democracy and countering authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights," Schiller said.

He said one important factor in considering which countries to invite to the second summit was the degree to which countries responded to this invitation and participated in the Year of Action in 2022 to strengthen democracy.   

"Building on the first summit held in December 2021, the next summit, in March 2023, will highlight how democracies deliver for their citizens and are best equipped to address the world's most pressing challenges."

On March 29-30 this year, the US will co-host the second Summit for Democracy with the governments of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, and Republic of Zambia.

The summit will assemble world leaders in a virtual, plenary format, followed by gatherings in each of the co-hosted countries with representatives from government, civil society, and the private sector.

"Co-hosting the second Summit for Democracy with a regionally diverse group of co-hosts reinforces the truth that a safer and fairer world grounded in democratic values is both a shared aspiration and a shared responsibility."

In a statement US President Biden said, "No matter how challenging the problems we face, we know that democracy remains the best tool we have to unleash our human potential and deliver for all our people, and we will continue to champion it."