The 18th BRICS summit is being held in New Delhi, India next month. The Indian government has invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to attend the summit. However, Bangladesh has not yet confirmed whether Tarique Rahman will attend or not.
BRICS is an international and economic alliance of the world’s major emerging market and developing countries. The BRICS Summit is scheduled to be held in New Delhi, India, on September 12 and 13.
According to BRICS rules, leaders of various regional alliances are invited to the summit’s outreach session.
However, no decision has been made on Tarique Rahman’s participation in the conference as of Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Shahidul Karim told BBC Bangla.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi met with Tarique Rahman on Monday. After the meeting, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman was asked by reporters whether Tarique Rahman would visit India to attend the conference. In response, the Foreign Minister said that no policy decision has been taken on the matter yet.
The next day, Tuesday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal held a briefing in New Delhi. There, too, questions were raised about Tarique Rahman’s visit to India. Randhir Jaiswal said that he would provide an update if there was any.
Former diplomats believe that there were efforts from both countries to overcome the strained relations that had developed between Bangladesh and India since the interim government after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
They say that the speech of the ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister in New Delhi on August 5 this year has indeed created some distance between the two countries. However, if Tarique Rahman visits India, there could be a positive change in relations.
Former Bangladeshi ambassador and former secretary Mashfi Binte Shams, who served in New Delhi, told BBC Bangla that while there is uncertainty about the Bangladeshi Prime Minister’s participation in this conference, Tarique Rahman should go on this visit to improve diplomatic relations.
Why is there confusion about Tarique Rahman’s visit?
India is holding the presidency of BRICS in 2026. Bangladesh is not a member country of BRICS.
However, according to BRICS rules, leaders of various regional alliances are invited to the outreach session of the summit.
This regional alliance is BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
The heads of government of the member countries have served as the chairman of BIMSTEC at different times. Bangladesh has held the chairmanship of BIMSTEC since 2025. As such, the current chairman of the alliance is Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
India has invited the Bangladesh Prime Minister to attend the BRICS Outreach Session. The invitation was extended through a diplomatic note sent to the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry through the Indian High Commission in Dhaka last July.
Since then, discussions have been going on for about a month about whether Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will visit India to participate in the conference.
According to reports in various media outlets in Bangladesh, it is highly likely that Tarique Rahman will not attend this visit.
Stating that no policy decision has been made on this matter from Bangladesh’s side yet, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman said on Monday, “The invitation has been extended not to the Prime Minister, but to the Chairperson of BIMSTEC.”
He further said, “Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to our Prime Minister and that letter was handed over on the day of formation of our government. There he extended an invitation. There is an invitation there, we will see that at some point.”
High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi went to India on the same day after meeting with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman last Monday.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, addressed a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.
He was asked by reporters whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had agreed to visit India. In response, Mr. Jaiswal said, “We have extended an invitation for a bilateral visit, as well as for participation in the BRICS outreach session to be held in Delhi. We will inform you if there is any updated information in this regard.”
In other words, the Indian government has not yet received any message as to whether Tarique Rahman will visit India in September or not.
However, former diplomats believe that if the Bangladeshi Prime Minister visits this visit and there is a bilateral meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries, then Bangladesh should go on this visit to positively develop relations.
Former ambassador and diplomatic analyst Mahfuzur Rahman told BBC Bangla, “If it had happened that the Bangladeshi Prime Minister had held a bilateral meeting with the Indian Prime Minister the day before and participated in the BRICS outreach the next day, it would have been perfect. Because Bangladesh has been expressing its interest in joining BRICS for a long time. In that sense, this visit is also important for Bangladesh.”
Sheikh Hasina’s back and forth
After the fall of the Awami League government in Bangladesh in the 24th mass uprising, ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took refuge in India.
During the interim government, relations between Bangladesh and India were strained. There were even incidents of communication and visa suspension between the two countries. At that time, the Indian government also hinted that relations between the two countries would normalize once an elected government was formed.
Former diplomats say that relations between the two countries were moving in a normal direction after the elected government came to power. But several recent incidents are dragging these relations back into the background.
In particular, ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined a virtual press conference in New Delhi on August 5 via audio call. Bangladesh also expressed concerns about the press conference after it was announced.
However, Bangladesh reacted angrily to the incident after Sheikh Hasina gave an audio speech online. The next day, the Bangladeshi Foreign Minister held a meeting with the Indian ambassador regarding the incident.
Former ambassador Mahfuzur Rahman told BBC Bangla, “Sheikh Hasina’s stay in India has further negatively affected the relations between the two countries. She (Sheikh Hasina) has also made political statements there, and Bangladesh has requested India not to make those statements.”
However, this diplomat also believes that Bangladesh had the opportunity to make a statement or even avoid the issue, which would not have had much negative impact on the relationship.
Former Foreign Secretary Mashfi Binte Shams told BBC Bangla, “Bangladesh’s relations with India as a neighboring country should be based on mutual respect and dignity. In that case, issues of equality, fairness and mutual understanding should be given importance.”
Internal factors are also important.
The government led by Sheikh Hasina was in power in Bangladesh continuously from 2009 to 2024. During this time, the opposition parties in Bangladesh had various complaints about various issues including elections and human rights violations. However, India’s support was seen towards the Awami League on various issues including the questionable elections.
That is why after the mass uprising of 2024, the anti-India stance among the common people became more public. Tensions arose on the border. Various slogans against Indian hegemony were also seen being raised in processions and rallies.
In particular, the anti-discrimination student movement has further clarified the anti-India stance in field politics.
Diplomatic analysts believe that the current ruling BNP is quite cautious about the visit to India due to the anti-India stance of opposition political parties, including the Jamaat-NCP. The opposition’s stance on the visit to India is still unclear.
Diplomatic analyst Mahfuzur Rahman told BBC Bangla, “Those who are in the opposition party, that is, in parliament, at the moment, are probably a bit hardline. Because of their position, the government may not have the courage to take a pro-Indian decision in such a case.”
However, former diplomats are again seeing the importance of this visit in improving relations between the two countries.
“Bangladesh is keen to become a member of BRICS. Such engagement will easily strengthen future participation,” Mashfi Binte Shams, former Bangladeshi ambassador to New Delhi, told BBC Bangla.
He believes that this visit is important, even if it is to overcome the tension that has arisen between the two countries.
And former ambassador Mahfuzur Rahman is of the opinion that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman should not only participate in the conference, but also visit India only if there is a bilateral meeting with India.
