Asked whether the incident would affect the Saarc Summit, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh told reporters here that "I hope it will not".

On India's taking up the issue with Bangladesh, he said: "When we get to Dhaka, inevitably, reference will be made to this as it's very distressing."

"It's very worrying. We immediately sent our condolences to the family of Kibria," said Singh. He will travel to Dhaka on February 4 for the meeting of the Saarc Council of Ministers in the run-up to the summit on February 6-7.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the external affairs minister have written to Asma Kibria, wife of Kibria, conveying their deep condolences on the tragic death.

Natwar said he is looking forward to his visit to Dhaka where he would hold 'comprehensive' discussions with his Bangladesh counterpart M Morshed Khan and other Saarc foreign ministers.

AFP from Kathmandu adds: Nepal will discuss its Maoist insurgency with India during the Saarc Summit and demand action on refugees evicted from Bhutan, the foreign office said yesterday.

India supports Nepal in combating a Maoist rebellion that has killed 11,000 people since 1996.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is leading the Nepalese delegation to the summit.

Nepal said it would also use the forum to discuss bilateral issues with India and Bhutan.

It wants Bhutan to work faster to resolve the fate of 100,000 Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese origin. They are sheltered in refugee camps in southeast Nepal run by UN agencies and international donors.

"The majority of the refugees are Bhutanese citizens so Bhutan should repatriate them as per bilateral talks," Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Prakash Sharan Mahat told reporters.

The mainly Hindu refugees left Bhutan in 1990 when the Buddhist kingdom launched cultural reforms encouraging the use of Bhutan's language and national dress.

Talks between the Nepalese and Bhutanese governments on their repatriation have dragged on for years.