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). External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday said that Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was invited to India on two occasions.
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. 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.
“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. As and when we have something to update you with, we’ll surely come back. The invitation, he explained, was extended only to the BIMSTEC chair.
Rahman, who assumed office as Bangladesh’s prime minister in February 2026, has still not undertaken an official bilateral visit to India. A planned three-day trip, originally scheduled to begin on August 23, was postponed.
Who told you that our Prime Minister was invited? Kobir had previously said that Rahman’s visit to India would go ahead once both sides finalise a mutually convenient schedule. “How shall we go? Has anyone from the Bangladesh government been invited? Our prime minister was not invited. The BIMSTEC Chair was invited,” Kobir was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.
