Prime Minister Rahman did not attend BRICS summit in New Delhi — Deutsche Welle
Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman did not take part in the BRICS leaders' summit, which India held this month in New Delhi. Indian authorities said they had invited Rahman to the BRICS session as chair of BIMSTEC, a regional grouping of states around the Bay of Bengal, as well as for a bilateral visit to India.
In Dhaka, these invitations were perceived as a slight because Rahman was not invited to the main part of the summit as Bangladesh's head of government. As Deutsche Welle reports, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had been invited to BRICS events as head of government, although Bangladesh is not a member of the grouping.
The issue of Hasina's extradition
Relations between New Delhi and Dhaka deteriorated after Hasina was removed from power in 2024 amid mass protests and the suppression of demonstrations, which resulted in deaths. She subsequently left for India. According to DW, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia last year after being found guilty of crimes against humanity related to the response to the protests.
Bangladesh called on India to extradite the former prime minister, while Hasina herself rejected the verdict, calling it politically motivated. After Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the elections in February, the sides partially restored contacts: in June, India resumed issuing tourist visas and appointed Dinesh Trivedi as its new high commissioner to Bangladesh. At the same time, Hasina's stay in India remains an obstacle to normalizing relations, according to DW's sources. The countries are discussing the possibility of holding a bilateral summit in November.
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Water, trade and China
Tensions are also linked to water resource issues. The 1996 Ganges water-sharing treaty expires in December, while the countries have still not concluded an agreement on sharing the waters of the Teesta River. Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-kilometer border and 54 common rivers.
Experts interviewed by DW assess Rahman's absence from the summit differently. Former Indian diplomat Ajay Bisaria believes Dhaka lost an opportunity to engage not only with India but also with other world leaders. Shanti Mariet D'Souza, founder of the Mantraya Institute, called the decision an obvious slight and said it should be viewed against the backdrop of the unresolved Hasina issue, water disputes and Bangladesh's deepening ties with China and Pakistan.
China is Bangladesh's largest trading partner and one of the country's main arms suppliers. During a June visit to Beijing, Rahman agreed on cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure and defense. At the same time, expert Sreeradha Datta cautioned that it is still too early to speak of a final distancing of India and Bangladesh from one another.
