Hasina Slams Rahman for Skipping BRICS Summit — SkimNews
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- Sheikh Hasina called Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman's decision to skip the BRICS summit in New Delhi (September 12-13) 'immature,' telling PTI in an exclusive interview that Bangladesh lost valuable trade, investment, infrastructure and development opportunities.
- India extended the BRICS invitation to Rahman in his capacity as current BIMSTEC chair, not directly as Bangladesh PM, according to the article.
- Hasina suggested Rahman's refusal stems from her own presence in Delhi, countering that Ziaur Rahman — Tarique's father — visited New Delhi in 1979 even though she was living in the city at the time.
- Hasina warned that Bangladesh is passing through a 'grave national crisis,' saying the Awami League has been banned, its leaders jailed or forced into hiding, the judiciary used for 'political revenge,' and media freedom restricted.
- Hasina said she intends to return to Bangladesh to restore democracy despite facing a death sentence from a Bangladeshi court, which she called a 'politically motivated process' carried out 'without a genuine opportunity to defend oneself.'
Why it matters: Rahman's BRICS boycott lost Bangladesh access to trade, investment, and infrastructure deals with major emerging economies, Hasina argued — at a moment her Awami League has been banned and a death sentence hangs over her own planned return. By tying the boycott to personal hostility toward Hasina rather than diplomatic calculation, the sitting PM risks deepening Bangladesh's isolation from South Asia's biggest bilateral partner.
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