India confirms invitation to PM Tarique for BRICS Summit as Bimstec chair

India confirmed that an invitation was extended to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to attend the BRICS Summit as the Bimstec Chair, as a separate bilateral invitation has been in place since February this year.

The BRICS Summit will be held in New Delhi in September.

"You would be aware that a formal invitation for a bilateral visit to India was extended to the Bangladesh prime minister upon his assumption of office in February 2026," said External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a media briefing in New Delhi today (4 August). 

As far as the BRICS Summit is concerned, he said India has separately extended an invitation to the Bangladesh prime minister in his capacity as the current chair of Bimstec to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

BRICS is an inter-governmental and intercontinental grouping consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, UAE, Ethiopia, and Indonesia.

"The invitation has been extended as per the standard practice being followed in Brics for the outreach sessions. Other heads of regional groups have also been invited in a similar manner," said Jaiswal.

Asked about former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina's planned media engagement in New Delhi on 5 August, Jaiswal said India is not involved in this process.

"The interaction you refer to is being organised by a private media entity. The government has no involvement whatsoever in it. Neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed at the forum," Jaiswal said when a journalist drew his attention.

It may be recalled that Hasina, as the then Bangladesh prime minister, had participated in the BRICS-Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) Outreach Summit, which was held in Goa on 16-17 October 2016.