India on Tuesday said Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been invited to the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi in his capacity as the current Chair of BIMSTEC, clarifying that the invitation was in line with the grouping’s established practice of inviting heads of regional organisations.Responding to a question, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi had earlier extended a separate invitation to Rahman for a bilateral visit soon after he assumed office in February this year.“As far as the BRICS Summit is concerned, India has separately extended an invitation to the Bangladesh Prime Minister in his capacity as the current Chair of BIMSTEC to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi,” Jaiswal said.“The invitation has been extended as per the standard practice being followed in BRICS for the outreach sessions. Other heads of regional groups have also been invited in a similar manner,” he added.Sources said invitations have also been extended to the current chairs of the African Union (Burundi), ASEAN (the Philippines), the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain) and GRULAC (Uruguay).The clarification comes amid speculation over the nature of Rahman’s participation in the summit against the backdrop of evolving India-Bangladesh ties.The MEA maintained that the invitation formed part of the standard BRICS outreach process and was distinct from the separate bilateral invitation extended to Rahman after he assumed office in February.