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Published : 28 Jul 2026, 01:55 PM
A decision is yet to be made on whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will attend next month's BRICS summit in the Indian capital, Information Advisor Zahed Ur Rahman has said.
According to him, Bangladesh is not a BRICS member, but has been invited to attend as an observer, with the decision on the prime minister's attendance to come at the government level.
"If he goes, there's an opportunity to hold meetings with some people. That decision hasn't been made yet. As far as I know, preliminary discussions on this haven't even started," Zahed said at a regular media briefing at the Department of ICT on Tuesday.
The 18th BRICS summit will be held in New Delhi on Sep 12-13.
The host country may invite countries outside the bloc's 11 members as special guests at the summit.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently invited Tarique to the summit, as part of efforts to thaw relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Asked whether Bangladesh wanted to become a BRICS member, Zahed said: "No specific decision has been made so far. There are thoughts of getting connected wherever multilateral platforms exist."
"At one point, a government that later fled the country also considered BRICS membership. This is still under review, and we'll weigh it further.”
“The government will take whatever decision serves the public's interest," he added.
Relations between Bangladesh and India deteriorated sharply during the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, which was formed after Sheikh Hasina was ousted in the student-led 2024 mass uprising.
Efforts to normalise ties from both sides began after the BNP came to power after the general election.
Modi had invited Tarique for a bilateral visit to Delhi shortly after the government took office in February, with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla delivering the invitation in person.
As part of geopolitical strategy, however, Tarique chose Malaysia over China or India for his first overseas trip as head of government.
He also included Beijing on that itinerary alongside Kuala Lumpur, and speculation over a potential India visit began soon after he returned from that trip in June.
The Prime Minister's Defence Advisor AKM Shamsul Islam, meanwhile, attended a BIMSTEC national security officials' meeting in Delhi this month.
As part of the thaw in ties, Delhi has sent veteran politician Dinesh Trivedi as its new mission chief in Dhaka, and media reports have suggested a change is also imminent in Bangladesh's mission head in India.
According to Indian media analysis, Delhi sees Trivedi as well-placed to play a significant, effective role in bridging the distance between Dhaka and Delhi diplomatically.
As part of efforts to normalise relations, India has also resumed issuing all categories of visas for Bangladeshi nationals since Jun 28.
