Bangladesh PM invited as BIMSTEC chair amid India outreach to regional blocs

New Delhi: India, the current BRICS chair, is contemplating inviting key regional organisations, including BIMSTEC, ASEAN and the Arab League, as part of the outreach initiative for the summit to be held in New Delhi on September 12-13.

The government is exploring a proposal to invite the current chairs of ASEAN, BIMSTEC, the League of Arab States, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the African Union as part of the outreach initiative for the BRICS Summit to champion the agenda of the Global South, ET has learnt.

Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman could visit India for the summit, as the country is the current chair of BIMSTEC. Similarly, the Philippine President could visit New Delhi, with the Philippines serving as the current ASEAN chair. Kazakhstan is the current chair of the EAEU, and the Kazakh President is also expected to attend the summit as a BRICS Partner country. While the League of Arab States has its headquarters in Cairo, the Egyptian President is also expected to attend the summit as Egypt is a BRICS member. Burundi currently chairs the African Union. The rotating presidency of the Supreme Council of the GCC is currently held by the United Arab Emirates, whose leadership is also expected to attend the summit as a BRICS member. Besides the 11 BRICS members, all 10 BRICS partner countries are expected to attend the summit.


Inviting countries and regional groupings beyond BRICS partners is a prerogative of the chairing country, and Russia, Brazil and China have undertaken similar outreach initiatives in the past.