Bangladesh Skips Delhi BRICS Summit Over Hasina Dispute — SkimNews
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- Bangladesh sent no representative to the BRICS summit in New Delhi; State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Rahman declined because his first India visit should be a "full-fledged bilateral visit," not attendance through a multilateral conference, and should occur only when a "conducive environment" is created.
- India rejected Dhaka's framing, saying Rahman received two separate invitations — one bilateral from PM Narendra Modi in February immediately after the BNP government took office, and one for the BRICS outreach session as BIMSTEC chair — and that preparations were made in August for a visit that ultimately did not happen.
- Rahman is pursuing a "Bangladesh First" foreign policy: since taking office he has visited Malaysia and China and is traveling to the US for the UN General Assembly, but has not set foot in India; media reports say a visit is being discussed for November.
- Sheikh Hasina's continued presence in India and her virtual address from Delhi on August 5 deepened the trust deficit; Bangladesh has demanded her extradition and the return of those allegedly involved in the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of Inqilab Mancha.
- India is concerned not only about rebuilding ties with the new Dhaka government but also about Bangladesh's growing engagement with China on infrastructure cooperation, which has drawn attention in New Delhi given the region's strategic significance.
- Bangladesh ranks better than India on both the RSF World Press Freedom Index and the Global Terrorism Index — a fact the article flags as a counter to Indian media criticism of Bangladesh's law-and-order situation and treatment of religious minorities.
Why it matters: Bangladesh's BRICS boycott signals the Rahman government will forfeit diplomatic access to global leaders to preserve domestic legitimacy and press India on Hasina's extradition. For New Delhi, losing Bangladesh's participation at a summit it hosted — while Dhaka deepens ties with China and Malaysia — sharpens the strategic cost of inaction on Hasina and complicates India's South Asia posture.
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