Bangladesh

Bangladesh on Sunday said it wants to "reset" its relationship with India and build a new bilateral engagement based on mutual interests, while describing ties during the tenure of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina as "uncomfortable". The remarks by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir came two days after Bangladesh on Thursday said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not participate in the BRICS Summit hosted by India as he was not invited to the event, with the invitation instead extended to the BIMSTEC chair. The two-day BRICS Summit concluded on Sunday. India had invited Rahman to attend the summit as chairman of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), while a separate bilateral invitation had been in place since February. Bangladesh wants to "reset" its bilateral relationship with India, Kobir told reporters here. "We want to move towards a new relationship, which should be done through bilateral discussions,

UN General Assembly President and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman offered no word on whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would attend the BRICS Summit in India later this week, after New Delhi invited him to join an outreach session of the grouping. India is hosting the annual BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, which is expected to deliberate extensively on a number of pressing global challenges, including the economic consequences of the West Asia crisis. "I'm not here (in a) national capacity, so please forgive me... I will really ask all of you to ask me questions or approach me in my capacity as the President of the General Assembly. If there are bilateral issues, I'm still the Foreign Minister; I'll speak to you separately," Rahman said at a press briefing here on Tuesday. He was responding to a question by PTI on whether the Bangladeshi prime minister would participate in the BRICS summit. Rahman assumed charge as President of the 81st session of

"If there is a security arrangement among ‌Islamic nations in the Middle East, it is not unusual for us to ​consider participating. It is being viewed positively," said B'desh junior foreign minister

Bangladesh is open to joining the recently formed defence alliance between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, two junior ministers have said, while stressing that any decision would be guided by the country's national interests. Signed in Makkah on August 7, the pact establishes a framework for collective deterrence and stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all three. "Bangladesh maintains a positive approach towards the possibility of joining an economic or defence framework involving Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, taking into account its own interests and the changing dynamics of the global economy and trade," newly appointed state minister for foreign affairs Humayun Kobir said. In an interview with the Bangla service of state-run BSS on Friday, Kobir said the government was pursuing a "Bangladesh First" policy and a balanced foreign policy with national interests at its core, which might lead Dhaka to join the ..

Businesses from India and the US have expressed interest in investing in Bangladesh and made proposals to improve the country's investment climate, Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir has said. Muktadir's remarks on Saturday came after attending a meeting at the Sylhet Metropolitan Police headquarters. He also said that some Indian businesspeople who recently visited Bangladesh have already invested in the country, the state-run BSS news agency reported. The commerce minister's remarks came days after a 14-member Confederation of Indian Industry delegation visited Bangladesh from August 17 to 19 to explore opportunities for expanding bilateral trade, investment and industrial cooperation. He said that Indian businesspeople have expressed interest in making the land ports between Bangladesh and India fully operational. "They have said that the closure or limited operation of land ports increases the cost of raw materials for Indian businesses," he said. Indian business ...

Bangladesh is open to joining the recently formed defence alliance between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, two junior ministers have said, while stressing that any decision would be guided by the country's national interests. Signed in Makkah on August 7, the pact establishes a framework for collective deterrence and stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all three. "Bangladesh maintains a positive approach towards the possibility of joining an economic or defence framework involving Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, taking into account its own interests and the changing dynamics of the global economy and trade," newly appointed state minister for foreign affairs Humayun Kobir said. In an interview with the Bangla service of state-run BSS on Friday, Kobir said the government was pursuing a "Bangladesh First" policy and a balanced foreign policy with national interests at its core, which might lead Dhaka to join the ..

A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique on Friday announcing the cancellation of Saturday's Change of Guard ceremony to accommodate the full rehearsal of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's ceremonial welcome was withdrawn, adding a fresh layer of confusion to the status of the high-profile visit. The withdrawal highlighted the ongoing diplomatic friction between New Delhi and Dhaka ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit on September 12-13. Relations have been strained over Bangladesh's recent demand for the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. A fresh communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said "press release issued on the subject 'No Change of Guard Ceremony this Saturday', which was issued on August 21, 2026, stands withdrawn." This communique came an hour after the President's house had announced that it was cancelling the weekly ceremony for the full rehearsal of the welcome planned for the visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister. "The Change of Guard Ceremony at the ...

Alamgir, 78, a longtime secretary general of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was administered the oath of office by Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament) Acting Speaker Kayser Kamal

New Delhi and Dhaka are exploring a summit between the two prime ministers later this year as they renegotiate the 30-year-old Ganga Water Treaty expiring in December

The South Asian neighbours have been in talks ‌for weeks regarding Rahman's first trip to ​New Delhi since taking ​office in February

Indian envoy Dinesh Trivedi met Bangladesh Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and discussed bilateral development projects and issues of mutual interest. The meeting comes amid uncertainty surrounding Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's visit to India for next month's BRICS Summit following fresh strains in bilateral ties over Dhaka's demand for the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. "High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Finance and Planning of Bangladesh, H. E. Mr. Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, and held discussions on mutual interest on economic cooperation and bilateral development projects between India and Bangladesh," the High Commission of India in Bangladesh posted on X on Thursday. Trivedi also gifted Chowdhury a copy of 'Arthashastra' by Kautilya. "Arthashastra says, 'Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere'," the Indian mission quoted from the book. Earlier, Trivedi also met the

The possibility of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's visit to India next month for BRICS Summit "remains slim" unless an appropriate environment based on "mutual trust" is created, along with a "dignified invitation" from New Delhi, his Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir has said. He said Dhaka is in no hurry to arrange a top-level visit without clearly defined national interests. "There is no justification for rushing into a top-level visit by going beyond the national interest," Kobir told state-run BSS news agency in an interview published on Thursday. The interview was held on August 17. The comments came amid uncertainties over Rahman's visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on September 12-13 amid fresh strains in bilateral ties over Dhaka's demand for the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. "The possibility of the Prime Minister visiting India ahead of the upcoming BRICS Summit remains slim unless an appropriate environment is created based on .

Ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was on Thursday elected as the country's new President in the first contested poll for the post in 35 years. The 78-year-old BNP stalwart defeated his rival Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed, the Liberal Democratic Party chairman and the nominee of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance, Chief Election Commissioner and also Election Returning Officer AMM Nasir Uddin said. Alamgir secured 255 votes while Oli Ahmad bagged 88 votes, he said. Of the total 349 registered voters, 343 voted in the election. Six lawmakers didn't vote, he added. The president-elect will take the oath as Bangladesh's new President on Friday evening at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban. It is the first contested presidential election in Bangladesh since 1991, as the office had largely been filled through consensus and uncontested polls in recent decades. The presidential election was necessitated after Mohammed Shahabuddin, a

Nine people, including a four-year-old child, were killed and six injured when a fire swept through a five-storey building housing several hotels in central Kolkata on Wednesday, with several Bangladeshis among the dead, prompting the government to order a statewide fire-safety audit. Officials of the state government and the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission initially said five of the deceased were Bangladeshis, including a woman and a child. However, sources at the Bangladesh mission later said the number of Bangladeshis killed in the blaze had risen to seven, adding that an official statement would be issued on Thursday morning. The blaze at Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street, near the New Market area, came barely 48 hours after another hotel fire in Tarapith killed nine people, putting the safety standards of the state's hospitality sector under renewed scrutiny. Fire and Emergency Services Minister Kaushik Chowdhury said the fire brigade received the call at 2.07 am and began .

Bangladesh has called for faster issuance of business visas for its nationals travelling to India and urged greater ease of doing business as it seeks to build an economic partnership with New Delhi that is "equally beneficial". State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said Bangladesh want businesses and private sectors of the two countries to "communicate more frequently", Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported on Wednesday. "Business visas for Bangladeshis should be issued more quickly so that businesspeople can travel to India more frequently," she said at a reception here on Tuesday night. The minister also stressed on the need to address "non-tariff barriers, standards and testing-related difficulties, procedural delays, and infrastructure constraints that affect the smooth movement of goods and services". Islam said Bangladesh wanted "more vibrant trade, investment and communication" between the two countries and that greater predictability and ease of doing business .

Bangladesh will seek a "guarantee clause" in the renewed Ganges Water Treaty with India and is ready to approach international forums to protect its water rights, according to media reports. Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee made the remarks on Tuesday at a seminar titled "Ganges Water Treaty: Issues for Renegotiation" organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs in Dhaka, the state-owned BSS news agency reported. The remarks came as the India-Bangladesh Ganges Water Treaty, signed in 1996 to govern dry-season sharing of the river's waters, is due to expire in December. Water-sharing has remained a key issue in bilateral ties between New Delhi and Dhaka, with Bangladesh pushing for a renewed pact and India maintaining that bilateral discussions on renewal had not yet begun. Anee on Tuesday said Dhaka remained committed to renegotiating the treaty and hoped that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would make a strong case for Bangladesh at the .

Bangladesh does not want its friendly ties with India to deteriorate over the long-pending Teesta water-sharing agreement, a senior minister has said, urging New Delhi to take into account Dhaka's interests while pursuing its own. "The neighbouring country is a friendly country. They have to think that while they have their interests, we also have ours," Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee was quoted as saying by news portal tbsnews.net at a seminar here. "A friend should protect the interests of a friend. We never want our friendly relations with them to deteriorate," he said. Anee's remarks on Sunday come amid a renewed push by Bangladesh to address the Teesta issue, including through the proposed Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project with China's support, as Dhaka seeks to tackle recurring floods, river erosion and dry-season water shortages in the country's northern districts. He said the government had organised several seminars and ...

Bangladesh on Sunday said a "propitious environment needs to be created" by India for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to visit New Delhi, linking it to Dhaka's pending extradition requests regarding deposed premier Sheikh Hasina, according to a media report. The development comes amid uncertainties over Rahman's visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on September 12-13. Rahman met Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi on August 10. During the meeting, he sought the extradition of Hasina, following up on formal requests sent to New Delhi so far. But there was no clarity on whether he would visit New Delhi. "Officials of Bangladesh and India have been in touch with each other for several weeks on the possibility of a bilateral visit by Hon'ble Prime Minister Mr Tarique Rahman to India," Bangladesh's foreign ministry spokesperson Shahidul Karim was quoted as saying by the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news portal on Sunday. However, he told the media, the process was ..

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's proposed visit to India has yet to be finalised, with the timing depending on his "schedule" and the "progress" in bilateral discussions, a junior minister said on Thursday. "The government is positive about visits to all countries. But it will depend on the PM's schedule and on how far discussions between the two countries progress," State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam told reporters at the foreign office. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited his Bangladesh counterpart to join the outreach of the upcoming BRICS summit in New Delhi in his capacity as the current chair of the BIMSTEC, as India is hosting the event on September 12-13. The BIMSTEC, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, is a regional grouping comprising India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday said that two separate ...

Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday declared that she is determined to return home in December to put the country on the "right track" as she is undeterred by the threat of imprisonment or a death sentence. Hasina made the remarks during an audio-only virtual press conference -- her first public media interaction since fleeing to India on August 5, 2024 in the face of a massive protest. Attendees were unable to see the former prime minister and heard only her voice. "I know, they may put me in jail or kill me," she said, adding "I will go back home to be with my people." The Awami League leader also described India as a "great friend" of Bangladesh and said it always stood by her country in times of difficulty. In her comments, Hasina delved into the prevailing political environment in her country and the challenges facing its people, asserting that her return is not about power but to put Bangladesh back on the track of development, secularism and ...