DHAKA: Bangladesh on Thursday ruled out the possibility of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman visiting India this week, saying he was not invited to the BRICS Summit and the invitation was instead extended to the BIMSTEC Chair.
As the current chair of BRICS, India will host the 18th Summit of the the influential grouping on September 12 and 13 in New Delhi, bringing together leaders of member and partner countries as well as outreach invitees.
Speaking to reporters, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir claimed that the Bangladesh premier was not properly invited to the BRICS Summit. He added that the invitation was extended to Rahman not as a prime minister but as the chairman of the seven-nation South and East Asian BIMSTEC.
"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?” Kobir posed a volley of questions when asked whether Rahman would join the summit.
India has extended an invitation to Rahman to attend the BRICS Summit as the chairman of BIMSTEC, while a separate bilateral invitation had been in place since February.
BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.
Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam became BRICS partner countries last year.
Kobir said the Bangladesh prime minister's first visit cannot be a multilateral one. "We are placing greater emphasis on bilateral visits and discussions,” he told reporters.
“When the environment is favourable, and mutual respect is maintained, bilateral visits will take place. There is no need to rush,” Kobir said, adding that Bangladesh is working to arrange a bilateral visit to India when the timing is conducive.
He said that Dhaka would deal seriously and efficiently with every matter involving its national interest.
"Wherever our national interest is involved, we will act with full gravity and efficiency,” he said when asked about the approaching expiry of the 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty.
The India-Bangladesh Ganges Water Treaty, signed in 1996 to govern dry-season sharing of the river's waters, is due to expire in December.
Responding to a question on the state of Bangladesh-India trade, Kobir said bilateral discussions were continuing positively, although no “fresh development is available for announcement at present”.
India sent Lok Sabha Speaker Om Prakash Birla on February 17 to join the inauguration of Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party government following the February 12 general elections.
Birla carried a letter from the Indian premier greeting his counterpart and inviting him to India along with his wife and only daughter.