PM Tarique Rahman will not attend BRICS summit in India

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will not travel to New Delhi to attend the upcoming BRICS summit, Foreign Affairs State Minister Humayun Kabir has confirmed.

Speaking to journalists outside an international seminar on the Rohingya issue at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Thursday (September 10), Kabir said Bangladesh was not satisfied with the manner in which the invitation was extended.

He said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was invited to the BRICS summit in his capacity as chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), rather than as the prime minister of Bangladesh. The state minister also said no Bangladeshi delegation would attend the upcoming BRICS summit in India.

“Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was invited as the chair of BIMSTEC. He was not invited as the prime minister,” Kabir said. Bangladesh is not a member of BRICS. India had invited Tarique Rahman to attend the summit’s outreach session in his capacity as BIMSTEC chair.

The decision comes after several days of discussion over whether the prime minister would attend the summit. Indian officials had previously said they had no new confirmation regarding the participation of the Bangladeshi prime minister.

The 18th BRICS Summit is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 12 and 13.

Although Tarique Rahman will not attend the BRICS summit, Kabir said the prime minister could make a bilateral visit to India if conditions become favourable.

The state minister did not specify what conditions would need to be met for such a visit.

The decision not to attend the summit marks a distinction between Bangladesh’s participation in the BRICS outreach process and its broader bilateral engagement with India, as Dhaka remains open to a separate visit by the prime minister.