The chances of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman visiting India before the BRICS Summit remain slim, with Dhaka signalling that a high-level engagement will not be rushed unless New Delhi creates what it considers an appropriate environment and extends a “dignified invitation”.Also read: Extradite Sheikh Hasina: Dhaka’s condition for PM Tarique Rahman’s India visitThe remarks were made by Rahman’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir in an interview with Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news portal on August 17, published on Thursday, amid continuing uncertainty over whether the Bangladesh Prime Minister will travel to New Delhi for the September 12-13 BRICS Summit outreach session.“There is no justification for rushing into a top-level visit by going beyond the national interest,” Kabir said, making it clear that Dhaka’s decision would be guided by its assessment of national interests rather than the calendar of the summit.“The possibility of the Prime Minister visiting India ahead of the upcoming BRICS Summit remains slim unless an appropriate environment is created based on consensus between the two countries on specific issues and a dignified invitation,” he said.Kabir also linked the uncertainty to what Dhaka sees as India’s handling of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 and has remained in India since then. Dhaka has repeatedly sought her extradition, while New Delhi has maintained that the request is being examined through established processes.He accused India of allowing political and media space to Hasina despite her conviction in Bangladesh, saying this had become a major source of public anger.“After the fall of autocratic rule through the July Mass Uprising, in which more than 1,500 people sacrificed their lives in Bangladesh, providing political or media space in India to fascist Sheikh Hasina, who fled there and took shelter as a criminal, is contrary to India’s democratic etiquette,” he said.On Wednesday, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that Rahman would receive an “honourable reception” whenever he visits India.Trivedi, speaking at a business reception in Dhaka, said Modi had told him that he and Rahman “need to meet” and asked him to convey an assurance that the Bangladesh Prime Minister would be accorded the reception he deserved.The Indian envoy’s remarks were seen as an attempt by New Delhi to keep the door open for direct political engagement with Dhaka despite the unresolved differences over Hasina.India has extended Rahman a formal invitation for a bilateral visit. Separately, New Delhi has invited him to the BRICS outreach session in his capacity as chair of BIMSTEC. The latter invitation is in line with the established practice of inviting heads of regional organisations to BRICS outreach events.The proposed visit, however, has been clouded by the fallout over Hasina’s August 5 virtual press interaction from New Delhi. Dhaka had said the event “vitiated” weeks of efforts to facilitate Rahman’s visit and renewed its demand for Hasina’s extradition.India has sought to distance itself from the event. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said the Government of India had “no role” in the interaction, which was organised by a private media entity, and did not endorse the views expressed by Hasina.On Tuesday, the MEA said India’s position on the former Bangladesh Prime Minister’s press interaction “needs no repetition” and reiterated that its approach towards Dhaka remained focused on “positive, constructive and forward-looking relations”.The latest comments from Dhaka suggest that the political gap remains wider than the diplomatic outreach from New Delhi. While India is signalling readiness for a meeting between Modi and Rahman, Bangladesh appears unwilling to treat the BRICS Summit as sufficient grounds for an early visit without progress on issues it considers central to the bilateral relationship.