Experts within the political circles believe the reason for her cancelling the visit is because of the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s last minute backing out of the Indo-Bangla Teesta Water Treaty. “The Bangladesh PM visited Tripura last month and refused to come to our state now. This is a clear indication as to how the new government has failed to keep a cordial relationship with Bangladesh,” said a senior CPIM leader.

Meanwhile, the Urban Development Minister Firhaad Hakim, defended the government saying, “She is unable to make it due to time constraint and nothing else should be speculated. And it will definitely not affect the relationship between the two countries.

Meanwhile, there were mixed reactions coming in from the Calcutta University, where the vice-chancellor said that the university could not postpone its convocation because of her absence. “How can we put off our convocation. We have to do without her,” said Prof. Suranjan Das, Vice Chancellor, University of Calcutta. “She said that she was busy at the moment and couldn’t find time to attend the ceremony,” he said.