Bangladesh PM set to skip meet; not ‘properly invited’, says Kobir

Bangladesh has decided not to take up India’s invitation to attend the Brics Summit this weekend as the current chair of the regional grouping Bimstec, reflecting the current downturn in relations between New Delhi and Dhaka

Published on: Sep 11, 2026, 07:54:30 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi

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Bangladesh has decided not to take up India’s invitation to attend the Brics Summit this weekend as the current chair of the regional grouping Bimstec, reflecting the current downturn in relations between New Delhi and Dhaka.

The Indian side has extended invitations to Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman for both a bilateral visit and to attend the Brics Summit as the chair of Bimstec but Dhaka has not conveyed its formal acceptance of both.

Bangladesh was conspicuous by its absence from the list of country chairs of regional organisations attending the Brics Summit. For instance, the country chairs of Asean, the African Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council , the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Eurasian Economic Union are all attending the summit.

Bangladesh’s minister of state for foreign affairs Humaiun Kobir claimed in Dhaka on Thursday that Rahman was not “properly invited” to the summit. “How shall we go? Has anyone from the Bangladesh government been invited? Our PM was not invited. Who told you that our PM was invited?” he told reporters. He further contended that Rahman’s first visit to India cannot be a multilateral trip.

“We are placing greater emphasis on bilateral visits and discussions,” he said. When the environment is favourable and “mutual respect” is maintained, bilateral visits will happen, he said.

The Bangladesh government has sought to link Rahman’s visit to India to its demand for the extradition of former premier Sheikh Hasina, who has lived in self-exile in India since her administration was ousted during student-led protests in August 2024. Dhaka has also said that preparations for Rahman’s visit to India were impacted by a virtual news conference by Hasina from Indian soil last month.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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