For the second time, the Biden administration declined to invite Bangladesh to its Summit for Democracy. Bangladesh’s South Asian neighbours — India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan — were invited to the summit.
In 2021, Bangladesh was not invited to the first democracy summit hosted by the Biden administration. Instead, the ruling regime was slapped with sanctions for severe human rights abuse. The regime expressed its displeasure as a result.
The decision to withhold invitation for the second time in a row was made because of the government’s lack of a serious action plan in stemming the erosion of democracy, according to Derek Chollet, counsellor of the U.S. State Department. During his visit in February 2023, he also warned that the further erosion of democracy in Bangladesh might result in the limiting of the ‘ability to cooperate’ in the future.
