India rejects State Minister’s claim, says PM was invited twice

India has clarified that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman received two separate invitations from New Delhi, rejecting confusion over the invitations extended to him.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Tuesday (September 15), one invitation was from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a bilateral visit to India. The second was extended to Tarique Rahman in his capacity as chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to attend the BRICS outreach session.

The clarification came after questions arose over whether Tarique Rahman had been personally invited to the BRICS Summit as Bangladesh’s prime minister. India said the two invitations were separate and served different purposes.

Bangladesh, which is not a BRICS member, is currently chairing BIMSTEC. The BRICS outreach invitation was therefore linked to Tarique Rahman’s role as BIMSTEC chair, rather than Bangladesh’s membership of the grouping.

The Indian clarification comes amid efforts by Dhaka and New Delhi to strengthen bilateral engagement, with a possible visit by Tarique Rahman to India also drawing diplomatic attention.

-AAH