External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was invited to India on two occasions. Jaiswal said one invitation was sent for a bilateral visit and another to attend the BRICS Summit as chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
Rahman skipped the summit hosted in New Delhi last week and has still not travelled to India for the planned bilateral talks.
“We had invited Prime Minister of Bangladesh on a bilateral visit, as also subsequently he was invited for the BRICS Summit as Chair of BIMSTEC. So he had received two invitations, one on the bilateral side and the other for the BRICS Summit as well,” the MEA spokesperson said.
When asked about Rahman’s proposed visit to India, Randhir Jaiswal said, “On the visit of the [Bangladesh] Prime Minister, we have not heard anything. As and when we have something to update you with, we’ll surely come back.”
Bangladesh’s statement on the BRICS invitation
Jaiswal’s clarification followed remarks by Bangladesh’s state minister for foreign affairs, Humaiun Kobir, who said Rahman had not been invited to the BRICS Summit in his capacity as prime minister. The invitation, he explained, was extended only to the BIMSTEC chair.
“How shall we go? Has anyone from the Bangladesh government been invited? Our prime minister was not invited. Who told you that our Prime Minister was invited? The BIMSTEC Chair was invited,” Kobir was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.
India, as the host of the BRICS Summit, invited Rahman to the summit’s outreach session in his capacity as the current BIMSTEC chair. BIMSTEC consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Tarique Rahman yet to visit India
Rahman, who assumed office as Bangladesh’s prime minister in February 2026, has still not undertaken an official bilateral visit to India.
Dhaka has indicated that it prefers to build a fresh working relationship with New Delhi through direct bilateral talks rather than starting with a multilateral platform.
Kobir had previously said that Rahman’s visit to India would go ahead once both sides finalise a mutually convenient schedule. A planned three-day trip, originally scheduled to begin on August 23, was postponed.
