UN General Assembly President and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman offered no word on whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would attend the BRICS Summit in India later this week, after New Delhi invited him to join an outreach session of the grouping.

India is hosting the annual BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, which is expected to deliberate extensively on a number of pressing global challenges, including the economic consequences of the West Asia crisis.

“I’m not here (in a) national capacity, so please forgive me… I will really ask all of you to ask me questions or approach me in my capacity as the President of the General Assembly. If there are bilateral issues, I’m still the Foreign Minister; I’ll speak to you separately,” Mr. Rahman said at a press briefing in the United Nations on Tuesday (September 8, 2026).

He was responding to a question by PTI on whether the Bangladeshi Prime Minister would participate in the BRICS summit.

Mr. Rahman assumed charge as President of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday (September 8, 2026), taking over the presidency of the world body’s annual session.

His remarks came amid uncertainty over Dhaka’s participation in the BRICS summit, which India is hosting as the grouping’s current chair.

India has invited Tarique Rahman to attend the summit’s outreach session in his capacity as the current chair of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

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The BIMSTEC is a regional grouping comprising India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.

Bangladesh’s participation in the summit would be closely watched amid strained ties with India following New Delhi’s decision to provide political asylum to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to the country after her ouster in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.

Earlier on Tuesday (September 8, 2026), Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi that there was no update to share on any confirmation from Dhaka on the Bangladeshi PM’s participation in the BRICS summit.

BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

It emerged as an influential grouping, as it brings together 11 major emerging economies of the world, representing around 49.5% of the global population, around 40% of the global GDP and around 26 per cent of the global trade.

Bangladesh said on Sunday (August 16, 2026) that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not visit India until New Delhi extradited Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladeshi former premier who fled during a 2024 uprising.

The countries have had a strained relationship since deadly anti-government protests brought down Ms. Hasina’s government and prompted her to escape to neighbouring India, where she remains.

She faces the death penalty in Bangladesh after being convicted of crimes against humanity, and Dhaka has repeatedly requested her extradition.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday (August 16, 2026), Foreign Ministry official A.K.M. Shahidul Karim played down media speculation about a possible trip by Mr. Rahman to India next week.

“We are of the view that a propitious environment needs to be created for the visit,” he told reporters. “To this end, we have urged the Indian authorities to expedite their efforts to extradite Sheikh Hasina and other fugitives.”

India has said Bangladesh’s extradition request is “under examination”.

Mr. Rahman took office in February and has since visited Malaysia and China, departing from the tradition of Bangladeshi leaders heading to India for their first overseas trip.

India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, met Mr. Rahman last week, fuelling speculation over a possible breakthrough.

Officials from Bangladesh and India have been in contact in recent weeks about the possibility of a visit by Mr. Rahman, Mr. Karim said. “But the process has been vitiated by Sheikh Hasina’s open media interactions, despite her being a convict in crimes against humanity.”

Ms. Hasina, a former pro-democracy leader whom critics said grew increasingly autocratic during her 15-year rule, vowed this month that she would return to Bangladesh in December even if it meant imprisonment.

Mr. Karim also said the government would pursue a “Bangladesh First” foreign policy rooted in sovereignty and non-interference while seeking mutually beneficial ties with India and other countries.

India and Bangladesh are in talks for an early bilateral visit by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to New Delhi, preferably before the end of this month or the first week of September, to help in full normalisation of relations. Officials hoped that the early visit would pave the way for the renewal of the Ganga waters treaty, energy deals and removal of the trade restrictions that were imposed in May 2025 on Bangladesh.

Diplomatic sources expressed cautious optimism, saying that “positive developments” can take place quickly in the coming few days. Sources in Dhaka expressed satisfaction over the ongoing exchanges between the two sides but cautioned that continued activities by former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or her party Awami League from India have the potential to cast a shadow on fresh initiatives. Sources here also said normalisation will have to be achieved as soon as possible as the diplomatic window may close soon because of other visits and commitments that are being scheduled for the Indian leadership in the remaining four months of the year.

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The exchanges between the Indian and Bangladeshi sides began last Monday (August 10, 2026) when High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi called on Mr. Rahman at the Secretariat in Dhaka. The meeting took place against the backdrop of tension generated by the virtual press conference that was addressed by Ms. Hasina and her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy at the Foreign Correspondents Club in New Delhi on August 5, 2026. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh said it was “outraged” by Ms. Hasina’s press conference and described the event as an “afront” to the “sovereignty of Bangladesh”.

A day earlier on August 9, Bangladesh hosted a delegation led by Parag Jain, Secretary, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the external intelligence wing of the Government of India. In response to Bangladesh’s remarks, the Ministry of External Affairs distanced itself from Ms. Hasina’s event and said India did not “endorse” the remarks that were made at the event against the “duly constituted government of Bangladesh”. The Ministry’s Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal further clarified that alongside the invite to Mr. Rahman for the BRICS meeting, India had extended an invite for a bilateral visit on February 17, 2026. This bilateral invite was further acknowledged by Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman on August 10, 2026 after Mr. Trivedi met Mr. Rahman.

Subsequently, Mr. Trivedi visited Delhi and briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Tuesday evening. It has been learnt by The Hindu that the Indian side has conveyed that an “early bilateral visit preferably before the end of the month” will ensure full normalisation of India-Bangladesh ties, including “addressing the water-related issue, energy agreements, visa facilities, and lifting of restrictive measures that were imposed on the textile and food processing sectors of Bangladesh in May 2025”.

It was also communicated to the Rahman government that “if you get stuck with Hasina, you will miss the bus.” It is understood that there has been greater interest of Bangladesh in a bilateral visit for Mr. Rahman and not so much for a participation in the BRICS summit as Bangladesh is not a member of the BRICS and as a result, Mr. Rahman is unlikely to feature in the main round table meet of the leaders of the member countries. Diplomatic sources, however, cautioned that a fresh meeting by members of Ms. Hasina’s Awami League is also being planned by the end of this month in Delhi and suggested that it could hurt positive trend in the talks.

Bangladesh, one of the largest trading partners of India in the neighbourhood, has had a prolonged spell of cold relation with India since the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, 2024. The subsequent 15-month-long interim government led by Mohammed Yunus and his Council of Advisers did not hold important official discussions in areas such as water-sharing and strategic affairs.

India had reached out to Mr. Rahman on February 17 when he was sworn in after winning the February 12 election with a landslide majority. Subsequently, Mr. Rahman has remained occupied domestically with a worsening energy situation that coincided with the Gulf crisis, a measles crisis that has killed hundreds of infants, and tough challenge from the Jamaat-e-Islami that is leading the Opposition bloc in the Parliament in Dhaka. Bangladesh will elect a new President on August 20 and seniormost Cabinet member Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the choice of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, is expected to be the new President. Mr. Rahman is likely to have a few days after that during which a visit could be scheduled.

A month before the expected visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman for the India-chaired BRICS summit, the country’s deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club in New Delhi on Wednesday (August 5, 2026), the second anniversary of her arrival in India following the monsoon uprising of 2024 in Dhaka.

The media interaction will be addressed by Ms. Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and the former Education Minister of Bangladesh, Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel.

“In this exclusive engagement, Sheikh Hasina will address the international media virtually to announce her homecoming and outline her vision for Bangladesh. The session will also feature senior leaders of the Bangladesh Awami League and former Ministers, participating both in person and virtually, followed by an interactive Q&A,” said Waiel Awwad, president of the club.

India has invited Prime Minister Rahman to attend the BRICS summit. Mr. Rahman, who was sworn in on February 17, 2026, after his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a landslide victory in the election, is yet to acknowledge the invitation.

Ms. Hasina – who has been based here since fleeing Dhaka on August 5, 2024 – has recently given interviews to global media outlets, recollecting her experience of returning to Bangladesh on May 17, 1981, ending six years of exile that followed the assassination of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975. In her latest interview, given to AFP on July 29, she reiterated her plans to go home and said, “I may be killed. I may be arrested. I may be sent to prison. I am fully aware of my fate. Still, I want to go back because my people are calling me.”

Responding to reports of Ms. Hasina’s plans to return to Bangladesh this December, the BNP government’s Deputy Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain termed the announcements a “political gimmick”.

“Sheikh Hasina is talking about returning to the country in December only to boost the morale of her party workers. It is nothing but a political stunt,” Mr. Hossain said on Saturday.

The interim government led by Mohammed Yunus, which was in power between August 2024 and February 2026, had banned the Awami League’s political activities and its student wing Chhatra League. The BNP-dominated Bangladesh parliament formalised the ban through an amendment to an anti-terrorism law this April.

On Sunday (August 2, 2026), Ms. Hasina received support from her long-time critic-author, Taslima Nasreen, who addressed a press conference in Kolkata. Ms. Nasreen supported Ms. Hasina’s right to return to the political space in Bangladesh. Known for her books Lajja and My Girlhood, the writer urged “progressive people” in Bangladesh to pressure the Tarique Rahman government to lift the ban on Awami League.

“The Yunus government’s banning of the Awami League was absolutely not a right move. I want the ban on the Awami League lifted without delay. Its leaders and party workers should return to the country. Lots of Awami League leaders and workers have been killed. Progressive people of Bangladesh should pressurise Tarique Rahman to lift the ban on the Awami League,” said Ms. Nasreen, who also criticised Ms. Hasina for being soft on religious fundamentalists during her 15-year-long tenure.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s foreign visit plans will not impact bilateral ties with India as Dhaka-New Delhi relation has its own dynamics and requirements that are important on their own, said an official source here on Wednesday (June 17, 2026). The remarks from the official came against the backdrop of reports that Mr. Rahman who came to power on February 17 will undertake his first round of foreign visits next week that will take him to Malaysia and China. Sources in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have told The Hindu that Prime Minister Rahman is considering visiting India in July, after returning from the first round of foreign tours.

“Bangladesh’s relation with India cannot be replaced by any other country. We share nearly 4,000 km of border and no one can replace the work that India does for Bangladesh,” said a source emphasising that Delhi’s relation with Dhaka is independent of any foreign visits by the leadership of Bangladesh. He further said that the two sides need to maintain positive momentum in relationship that will help in re-tracking the relationship that has remained in turmoil since the overthrow of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Last weekend, the High Commissioner-designate of India Dinesh Trivedi reached Bangladesh through the land border in West Bengal and called for resolving differences between the two sides through dialogue.

Jamaat-e-Islami, the main opposition party in the Bangladesh parliament, however, launched a series of rallies in Dhaka and Chittagong protesting against the remarks of Mr. Trivedi, arguing that the envoy had talked about uniting Bangladesh with India. Talking to The Hindu, the official source on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) blamed social media for the controversy and said, “He had referred to bringing the people of the two countries closer through dialogue.” Prime Minister Rahman is expected to return from China on June 25 or 26 by when High Commissioner Trivedi is expected to settle in his new role in Dhaka, and that is expected to help in formalising high-level talks between the two sides.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent an invitation letter to Prime Minister Rahman through Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri who, along with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, had participated in Mr. Rahman’s swearing-in ceremony in Dhaka on February 17. Mr. Rahman, however, has not been able to visit Delhi so far, though his Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman and Special Adviser on Foreign Affairs Humayun Kobir visited Delhi in the second week of April ahead of the Indian Ocean Conference in Mauritius, where Mr. Rahman had participated in the discussion alongside External Affairs Minister Jaishankar. Sources in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party had told The Hindu earlier that Prime Minister Rahman’s plans to visit India would come up soon after he returned from Malaysia and China. “A visit to India is definitely on the cards. It can happen soon after the China visit,” a source in BNP had said.