Bangladesh has said it is reviewing all 101 agreements signed with India, days after Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was not invited to the BRICS summit being held in New Delhi. The development has added fresh tension to ties between the two neighbouring countries.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief whip Nurul Islam Moni said on Friday, 11th September, that the government is examining all the agreements and that a decision on which ones will continue, change or be cancelled will be announced soon.
Speaking to journalists at the Parliament Media Centre after the third session of the 13th Parliament, Moni said, “We are reviewing the agreements, all 101 MoUs. You will get the outcome very soon, very soon.” His remarks were reported by Prothom Alo.
The statement came in response to a question about agreements allowing ships from friendly countries to use Bangladesh’s Chattogram and Mongla ports. Moni did not say which specific agreements could be cancelled or amended.
He said the current government was moving away from what it considers unethical agreements made during the previous administration and would give priority to Bangladesh’s national interest. He also pointed to port policies at Chattogram that, according to him, gave foreign vessels an advantage over Bangladeshi ships.
Moni said Bangladesh’s future diplomatic relations would be guided by the country’s sovereignty and domestic interests.
He also criticised India over its decision not to invite Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to the ongoing BRICS summit in Delhi. Calling the move disappointing for an independent country, he said Bangladesh was unhappy with the decision.
Earlier, Tarique Rahman’s was expected to visit India
The latest remarks come against the backdrop of another unresolved issue between Dhaka and New Delhi. Tarique Rahman had earlier been expected to visit India after becoming Bangladesh’s prime minister in February 2026 following a landslide election victory.
The proposed visit was seen as important because it could have helped Rahman establish direct ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and improve relations that had become strained after the student-led uprising of 2024 and Sheikh Hasina’s fall.
Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and political heir of the BNP, was expected to use the visit to begin a new phase in Bangladesh-India relations. However, the trip did not take place.
There was no official cancellation of Rahman’s proposed India visit, but no date was finalised either. Reuters reported that Bangladesh was waiting for India’s response to its requests concerning former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other individuals wanted by Dhaka.
The situation became more difficult after Sheikh Hasina took part in a virtual media interaction from India earlier this month. Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said the event had affected the atmosphere around Rahman’s proposed visit and called for a more “conducive environment” before the trip could move forward.
Now, with Rahman also not being invited to the BRICS summit in Delhi, Dhaka’s decision to review 101 agreements has added another point of friction to an already sensitive relationship.
