No response yet on invite to Brics Summit for Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been invited to the Brics Summit in New Delhi in his capacity as the chair of the Bimstec grouping
The Bangladesh government has not yet formally accepted India's invitation for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to attend the Brics Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, residents familiar with the matter informed on Wednesday. Rahman accepted the invitation to chair the Bimstec grouping’s summit in New Delhi. India's envoy Dinesh Trivedi reiterated the invitation to Rahman during a meeting in Dhaka on August 10.
Coming just a month before the Brics Summit, the Bangladesh side has yet to inform India of its acceptance of the invitation, according to sources close to the event preparations. The invitation extended by India also includes leaders of Bahrain, chair of the Gulf Cooperation Council; Burundi, chair of the African Union; the Philippines, chair of Asean; and Uruguay, chair of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) for the outreach session of the Brics Summit.
No response from Dhaka regarding India’s invitation for Rahman to visit the country bilaterally has been received so far. That invitation was sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Rahman when he took office in February. Prothom Alo newspaper had reported, citing sources, that the Bangladesh Prime Minister would not attend the Brics Summit due to "fresh tensions" in bilateral relations following former premier Sheikh Hasina's virtual news conference from New Delhi on August 5.
During the meeting between Trivedi and Rahman, Bangladesh urged India to expedite Hasina's extradition, who has lived in India since fleeing Dhaka in August 2024. India stated that the extradition request made in late 2024 is being examined following established procedures. The Brics Summit may not be an ideal venue for a bilateral meeting between the two countries' Prime Ministers, especially as much hope is placed on such a meeting to improve relations.
A bilateral visit from Bangladesh might offer more substantial discussions on critical issues, one source noted. Issues such as alleged killings of Bangladeshi nationals by India's border security forces, "pushback" of undocumented migrants from Assam and West Bengal, and the Ganga Waters Treaty renewal are among the concerns raised by Bangladesh.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
