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Bangladesh has yet to decide whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will attend the outreach session of the upcoming BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman said on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka, the minister clarified that two separate invitations have been received from India—one for a bilateral visit and another linked to Bangladesh’s role as chair of BIMSTEC.
“The BIMSTEC invitation was not extended to the prime minister personally, but to the chairperson of BIMSTEC,” Khalilur said, urging the media to distinguish between the two.
The clarification came after Dinesh Trivedi paid a courtesy call on the prime minister at the Secretariat. During the meeting, he conveyed greetings from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reaffirmed New Delhi’s interest in strengthening ties with Dhaka through “positive, constructive and forward-looking” engagement.
Officials said discussions during the meeting focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation with a people-centric approach, alongside broader issues of mutual interest. The envoy also met Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, where talks included security cooperation and regional collaboration.
India is set to host the 18th BRICS Summit on 12–13 September, with a focus on global cooperation, trade and sustainable development.
According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, the invitation to Bangladesh for the summit’s outreach session follows standard BRICS practice of engaging leaders of regional groupings.
Bangladesh currently chairs BIMSTEC—a seven-nation regional bloc comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand—having assumed the role last year for a two-year term.
While Dhaka has confirmed receiving both invitations, a final decision on the prime minister’s participation in the BRICS outreach session—or a separate bilateral visit to India—remains pending.