New Delhi, 04 August (H.S.): The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said that India has extended a special invitation to Bangladesh Prime Minister Tariq Rahman to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit, scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 12-13, in his capacity as the current chair of BIMSTEC. The ministry added that he had earlier been invited for a bilateral visit to India after assuming office in February 2026.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, said that under the established practice of BRICS, heads of ASEAN and other regional groupings are invited to participate in outreach activities.

The spokesperson said, “A formal invitation for a bilateral visit to India was extended to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh after he assumed office in February 2026. India has separately invited the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, as the current chair of BIMSTEC, to participate in the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit to be held in New Delhi. This invitation has been extended in accordance with the standard practice followed for outreach sessions at BRICS. Heads of other regional groupings have also been invited in a similar manner.”

It is noteworthy that Bangladesh has not yet accepted the invitation. After assuming power in the neighbouring country in February this year, Prime Minister Tariq Rahman has visited Malaysia and China but has not travelled to India so far.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar