No scope to send Bangladesh government representative to BRICS summit: Humayun Kabir

Foreign Affairs State Minister-1 Humayun Kabir has said there is no scope for Bangladesh to send a government representative to the BRICS summit. He said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was not invited to the summit in his capacity as prime minister; rather, Bangladesh was invited as the chair of BIMSTEC.

He made the remarks on Thursday (September 10) in response to a question from journalists at the Foreign Service Academy.

Asked whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would attend the BRICS summit, Humayun Kabir said, “How can we go? Has anyone from the Bangladesh government been invited? Our prime minister was not invited. Who told you that the prime minister was invited? The chair of BIMSTEC has been invited.”

Regarding the prime minister’s proposed visit to India, he said Tarique Rahman’s first visit to India could not be a multilateral visit. The government is working to arrange a bilateral visit by the prime minister to India when the time is favourable.

In April last year, Bangladesh assumed the chairmanship of BIMSTEC, the seven-nation grouping of countries in the Bay of Bengal region, for a two-year term. Bangladesh took over the chairmanship with the aim of advancing regional cooperation and development. BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

India has said that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was invited to attend the BRICS summit in his capacity as chair of BIMSTEC. At the same time, a separate bilateral invitation has also been extended to the prime minister since February this year.

The 18th BRICS summit will be held in New Delhi, India, on September 12 and 13. Leaders of BRICS member states, along with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, are expected to attend.

India is chairing BRICS in 2026. This year’s summit will be held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Leaders of BRICS member and partner countries, as well as representatives of other invited countries, will attend the summit.

India’s theme for its BRICS chairmanship this year is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” At the summit, leaders will seek to strengthen intra-BRICS cooperation on shared priorities while exchanging views on various global and regional issues.

Under India’s chairmanship, more than 350 meetings and high-level programmes have been held in over 25 cities across the country this year. Through these programmes, efforts have been made to further strengthen BRICS’ strategic partnership in three areas: political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people ties.

India is a founding member of BRICS. It previously chaired the grouping in 2012, 2016 and 2021. On January 1, 2026, India assumed the BRICS chairmanship for the fourth time. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of BRICS.