Politics · India Bureau
Bangladesh clarifies PM Rahman's BRICS invite was for BIMSTEC role
Dhaka has clarified that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's successor was invited to a BRICS summit in her capacity as chair of the South Asian regional bloc BIMSTEC, not as Bangladesh's head of government. The distinction underscores the diplomatic protocols surrounding the invitation.
LSN India ·
Bangladesh's Ministry of State for Foreign Affairs has issued a statement clarifying the nature of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's invitation to a BRICS summit, stating she was invited specifically in her role as chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), rather than as the head of Bangladesh's government.
The clarification comes amid discussions about Bangladesh's participation in major multilateral forums. BIMSTEC, a seven-member regional grouping, includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal. The distinction between invitations extended to individual nations versus invitations extended to regional bloc representatives reflects established diplomatic conventions in international forums.
The statement underscores Bangladesh's engagement with various multilateral platforms while maintaining its traditional diplomatic relationships across South and Southeast Asia. The clarification may help address any confusion regarding the nature and scope of Bangladesh's participation in the BRICS summit and its relationship to broader regional cooperation mechanisms.
BRICS, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has in recent years invited representatives from other nations and regional organizations to participate in select summits as observers or special invitees, reflecting the bloc's expanding diplomatic reach in the Global South.