In a rare retraction on Friday, the President House withdrew a statement issued earlier in the day linking the cancellation of a customary Saturday event at the Rashtrapati Bhavan with preparations for Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s proposed India visit.Rahman’s visit has not yet been confirmed, with Bangladesh insisting on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s extradition for the visit to proceed.The first statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, issued at 2.13 pm and titled, “No change of guard ceremony this Saturday”, read: “The change of guard ceremony at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan will not take place this Saturday (August 22) due to the full rehearsal for the ceremonial welcome of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.”About an hour later at 3.28 pm, the Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a retraction, saying the “press release issued on the subject, ‘No change of guard ceremony this Saturday’, which was issued on August 21, stands withdrawn”. Both statements came under the signatures of Navika Gupta, Deputy Press Secretary to the President.The Tribune has learnt that the President House retracted the statement after a red flag from the MEA.How the statement got issued despite a pending confirmation of the state visit of Rahman remains unclear as does the question about the level at which the lapse occurred.Under President House protocols, the cancellation of any scheduled public event customarily held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan is the remit of the ceremonial division headed by the Military Secretary to the President.The ceremonial division routinely communicates public event cancellation notices to the press office of the President, which then disseminates this information for public consumption through the media.The press office has in the past attributed cancellation of Rashtrapati Bhavan’s customary events meant for the public to the reception or rehearsals for visits of foreign dignitaries.Also, under assigned roles, the mandate of vetting intimations involving high offices of the heads of states lies with another office in the President’s Secretariat — the Officer on Special Duty (External Affairs) — a position held by a Joint Secretary-level officer. Core responsibilities of this office involve diplomatic coordination and management of communication between the President’s Secretariat and the MEA, and ensuring alignment on state visits, among others.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, when asked to comment on the lapse, did not make a direct comment on the issue. “I have nothing to say on this matter. When I have any update, I will share,” he said, while sources indicated the miscommunication occurred at the level of the President’s Secretariat.