Bangladesh PM invited to BRICS Summit as BIMSTEC Chair: MEA

New Delhi: India on Tuesday said that Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been invited to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit to be held in New Delhi in September in his capacity as the current chair of BIMSTEC.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a grouping of seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), it is a unique link connecting South Asia with South-East Asia with five Members from South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and two from South-East Asia (Myanmar and Thailand). The BIMSTEC region brings together 1.7 billion people – 22 per cent of world population with a combined GDP of US$ five trillion.

Addressing a bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that a formal invitation to visit India had already been extended to Rahman after he had 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. 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,” said Jaiswal.

Last week, India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, expressed confidence that bilateral ties would move forward constructively once Prime Minister Rahman visits India, saying all issues between the two countries can be resolved, local media reported.

Addressing reporters following separate meetings with Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka, Trivedi described the discussions as positive.

“I am looking forward to everything positively. We had a great meeting filled with immense positivity,” Bangladeshi media outlet UNB quoted Trivedi as saying.

When asked about the invitations extended to Rahman to visit India, Trivedi said the decision rests with 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.

Responding to a question on the Ganga Water Treaty during the same press briefing, Jaiswal said that discussions on the issue would take place through the existing bilateral mechanisms between India and Bangladesh, which include the Joint Rivers Commission and other technical-level platforms.

“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,” the MEA spokesperson mentioned.

IANS