Ties Can't Hinge On One Individual: Hasina Slams Tarique Rahman Over BRICS Boycott

Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has criticised Prime Minister Tarique Rahman for skipping the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, calling the decision “immature” and harmful to Bangladesh’s national interests. She questioned why her presence in India should prevent Rahman from visiting, recalling that his father, former president Ziaur Rahman, travelled to Delhi in 1979 when she was living there.

“So why should my presence in Delhi prevent Ziaur Rahman’s son, Tarique Rahman, from coming to India today? What is the real reason behind such a decision?” Hasina asked in an interview.

She said Bangladesh had missed opportunities for trade, investment, infrastructure, technology and development by staying away from the September 12-13 summit. “Relations between two countries cannot be determined by personal considerations or political sensitivities involving one individual,” she said, urging Dhaka to pursue a balanced foreign policy.

The controversy centred on India’s invitation to Rahman. New Delhi said he received two invitations: one to attend the BRICS outreach session as chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and another for a bilateral visit.

Bangladesh argued that Rahman had not been invited specifically as the country’s prime minister and maintained that his first India visit should be a dedicated bilateral engagement. Discussions to finalise dates for the visit were subsequently withdrawn, reportedly amid disagreements over India’s position on Hasina’s extradition.

Diplomatic tensions continued on October 13, when Bangladesh Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed skipped the first BIMSTEC home ministers’ meeting in New Delhi. Dhaka sent a delegation led by Home Affairs Senior Secretary Manzur Morshed Chowdhury instead. The meeting addressed counterterrorism, cross-border crime, trafficking and intelligence cooperation.

Relations between India and Bangladesh deteriorated after Hasina’s government collapsed amid mass protests in August 2024 and she fled to India. Dhaka has repeatedly sought her extradition. Tensions intensified after Hasina held a virtual media interaction in New Delhi on August 5, although India said it had neither organised the event nor endorsed her remarks.

Hasina urged Rahman to follow Bangladesh’s founding principle of “friendship to all, malice to none”, saying engagement with China should not come at the expense of ties with India.

She also alleged that Bangladesh was facing a national crisis involving restrictions on democratic freedoms and political participation. Despite being sentenced to death in absentia by a Bangladeshi court, Hasina said she intended to return to help restore democracy, voting rights and the rule of law.