‘No scope for BD to attend BRICS Summit’
There is no scope for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to attend the upcoming BRICS Summit as Bangladesh’s prime minister was not invited to the meeting, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir said yesterday.
“The prime minister was not invited. Who told you that our prime minister was invited? The Bimstec chair was invited.
Then why are you asking this question?” he told reporters at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
He was responding to questions about whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would attend the 18th BRICS Summit, scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 12-13.
Kabir said the prime minister’s first visit to India cannot be a multilateral one.
“The government is working to arrange the prime minister’s bilateral visit to India when the timing is conducive,” he said.
Bangladesh assumed the chairmanship of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) in April 2025 for a two-year term.
The regional grouping comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
India has confirmed that an invitation was extended to Tarique Rahman to attend the BRICS Summit in his capacity as Bimstec chair.
A separate bilateral invitation to the prime minister has been in place since February this year.
BRICS Summit in New Delhi BRICS member states and UN Secretary-General António Guterres are scheduled to attend the 18th BRICS Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 12-13.
The UN’s India office confirmed Guterres’ participation in a post on its verified Facebook page on Wednesday.
India, which holds the BRICS chairmanship in 2026, is hosting the summit under the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”
The theme reflects Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a people-centric approach based on the principle of “Humanity First”.
The summit will bring together leaders of BRICS member and partner countries as well as outreach invitees.
Leaders are expected to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation within BRICS on common priorities and exchange views on global and regional issues of mutual interest.
Under India’s chairmanship, more than 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been held in over 25 cities across the country, focusing on the three main pillars of BRICS cooperation-political and security issues, economic and financial cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
India said these engagements, along with business-to-business and people-to-people initiatives, have sought to advance BRICS cooperation through practical and development-oriented outcomes.
India is a founding member of BRICS and has previously chaired the grouping in 2012, 2016 and 2021. It assumed its fourth BRICS chairmanship on January 1, 2026.
The year 2026 also marks 20 years since the establishment of BRICS.
