The announcement comes amid continued diplomatic engagement between India and Bangladesh….reports Asian Lite News Desk
India has invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit, scheduled to be held in New Delhi in September, in his capacity as the current chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
The invitation was confirmed on Tuesday by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during the ministry’s weekly media briefing in New Delhi.
Jaiswal said India had also extended a formal invitation to Rahman to visit the country shortly after he assumed office in February 2026.
“You would be aware that a formal invitation to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to visit India was extended when he assumed office in February 2026. As far as the BRICS Summit is concerned, India has separately extended an invitation to him in his capacity as the current chair of BIMSTEC to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit, which will be held in New Delhi,” Jaiswal said.
“The invitation has been extended as per the standard practice followed in BRICS for outreach sessions. Other heads of regional groups have also been invited in a similar manner,” he added.
BIMSTEC comprises seven countries located around the Bay of Bengal: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. According to the MEA, the grouping connects South Asia and South-East Asia and represents around 1.7 billion people, accounting for approximately 22 per cent of the world’s population, with a combined GDP of about US$5 trillion.
The announcement comes amid continued diplomatic engagement between India and Bangladesh.
Last week, India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, expressed optimism that bilateral relations would continue to strengthen following a future visit by Rahman to India.
Speaking after separate meetings with Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam in Dhaka, Trivedi described the discussions as constructive.
“I am looking forward to everything positively. We had a great meeting filled with immense positivity,” Trivedi said, according to Bangladeshi media outlet UNB.
Asked about the invitation extended to Rahman, Trivedi said the timing of the visit would be decided by the Bangladeshi Prime Minister.
“From our end, I can assure you that we are looking forward to welcoming the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to India. We are very hopeful that this visit will take place in the near future,” he said.
During the same MEA briefing, Jaiswal also addressed questions regarding the Ganga Water Treaty.
He said discussions on water-sharing issues would continue through existing bilateral mechanisms, including the Joint Rivers Commission and other technical-level forums established by India and Bangladesh.
“Now there are 54 rivers that are shared between India and Bangladesh, and there is a Joint Rivers Commission which is a bilateral mechanism, and there are several technical-level structures as well, which support discussion between the two sides on water issues. And any discussion on Ganga water treaties also will be held as part of the bilateral mechanism that we have in place,” Jaiswal said.
