Bangladesh not joining BRICS summit in Delhi

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir has made it fairly clear that there is no possibility of Bangladesh participating in the BRICS summit in India. He said Bangladesh had not been properly invited to take part there.

Humayun Kabir said this in response to a journalist's  question at a discussion event on the Rohingya crisis at the Foreign Service Academy today, Thursday.

He said Dhaka is giving importance not to the BRICS summit but to Prime Minister Taique Rahman’s visit to India on bilateral basis. 

The 18th BRICS summit will be held in India’s capital, Delhi, on September 12 and 13. Delhi had invited Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, as the chair of the BIMSTEC alliance, to participate in a session of this summit.

Dhaka had been expressing dissatisfaction over the invitation process for some time.

When a journalist asked who would be going on Bangladesh’s behalf to the BRICS summit, Humayun Kabir said, “How will they go? Has anyone in the Bangladesh government been formally invited?”

When the matter of inviting Bangladesh as BIMSTEC chair was raised, he said, “The head of BIMSTEC is not Bangladesh now. If Bangladesh were the BIMSTEC chair and the Bangladesh prime minister were not invited, this question would have raised. But now the BIMSTEC chair is another country. Then where is the opportunity or scope to send a representative there?”

The Indian government has also extended an invitation to Tarek Rahman for a bilateral visit. After Tarek Rahman was elected prime minister last February, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended this invitation to him.

Humayun Kabir said, “We are putting more emphasis on bilateral visits and discussions. When the environment is favorable and mutual respect is maintained, bilateral visits will take place. There is no need to rush here.”

However, the Bangladesh government has been expressing dissatisfaction over the activities of Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in the July uprising and is staying in India. In the view of analysts, that has become a thorn in the path of Tarique Rahman’s visit.

On journalists’ question about renewing the Ganges water-sharing treaty, whose term is nearing expiry, Humayun Kabir said, “Wherever our national interests are involved, we will work seriously and skillfully. Whatever Anandabazar newspaper may say, I will think about my country’s interests and happiness.”

Regarding the prime minister’s visit to the United Nations, the state minister for foreign affairs said details would be provided after the itinerary is finalized.