The High Commissioner of India, Dinesh Trivedi, called on Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman on Wednesday, marking his first official meeting with Bangladesh's top diplomat.

Following the meeting, High Commissioner Trivedi told reporters that India had invited Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to New Delhi in September to attend the upcoming BRICS Summit.

However, Daily Waadaa can confirm that the invitation was actually extended to the Chairperson of BIMSTEC—a position currently held by the Bangladeshi Prime Minister.

Notably, nowhere in the invitation letter was Tarique Rahman addressed as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

This calculated phrasing has plunged Bangladesh's policymakers into a dilemma. As a result, it now appears less likely that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will attend the summit ‘strictly’ in his capacity as the head of BIMSTEC.

While Tarique Rahman made his maiden overseas visits to Malaysia and China last month, a visit to Bangladesh's immediate neighbor appears set to wait longer.

The contrast in protocol is stark. Ousted and convicted autocrat Sheikh Hasina was personally invited by New Delhi to the G20 Summit in September 2023 as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Dhaka expected the same diplomatic courtesy for Tarique Rahman, whose Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secured a two-thirds parliamentary majority in one of the fairest general elections in the country's history.

This raises a critical question: If Prime Minister Tarique Rahman attends the BRICS Summit, will he represent Bangladesh as its sovereign head of government, or merely appear as the chair of BIMSTEC?

Moreover, representing BIMSTEC at BRICS would require securing formal consent from all other member states, and even then he would not be speaking on behalf of Bangladesh.

Such an invitation to Tarique Rahman as the figurehead of an India-led regional grouping, rather than for a bilateral visit as Bangladesh's elected prime minister, adds insult to injury.

Given this fundamental disparity in treatment, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would be well advised to decline participation, say the Foreign Policy analysts that Waadaa spoke with. Forgoing the BRICS Summit is the most honorable course of action for both him and the nation, they say.

While the new Bangladeshi government remains eager to improve bilateral ties, significant obstacles continue to hinder a diplomatic reset. India has weaponized Bangladesh's reliance on textile transshipment routes and restricted medical visas for up to a million Bangladeshi citizens.

Furthermore, hosting Sheikh Hasina and allowing her access to Indian and international media is viewed in Dhaka as an unfriendly act, compounded by persistent hostile rhetoric from influential Indian politicians.

These grievances cannot simply be glossed over or ignored. If mutual trust and confidence are to be restored, Dhaka expects these barriers to be removed so that a balanced and respectful new chapter in bilateral relations can begin.

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