Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to attend Tarique Rahman's swearing-in as Bangladesh Prime Minister
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to attend Tarique Rahman's swearing-in as Bangladesh Prime Minister")
India PM Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Tarique Rahman Photograph: (AFP, ANI)
India will send Om Birla and Vikram Misri to Tarique Rahman’s swearing-in as Bangladesh PM, signalling renewed ties after political shifts. With Modi unable to attend, New Delhi is showing support for the new government and regional engagement
India's Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will represent New Delhi at the swearing-in ceremony of Tarique Rahman as Bangladesh's Prime Minister in Dhaka on 17 February. The invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was extended on Saturday evening, but he is unable to attend due to a scheduled meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai on the same day. The decision to send the Speaker and the top diplomat shows India's engagement with the new government amid efforts to rebuild ties following a period of turbulence.
The ceremony follows the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) landslide victory in the 13th parliamentary elections earlier this month, the first since mass protests ousted Sheikh Hasina in 2024. The BNP secured a decisive two-thirds majority, with over 200 seats in the 300-member parliament, paving the way for Rahman, who returned from 17 years of exile in London, to take office.
Newly elected MPs will take their oaths in the morning, administered by the Chief Election Commissioner, with Rahman's cabinet sworn in during an evening event at the National Parliament's South Plaza. Invitations were sent to leaders from 13 countries, including China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, Qatar, Malaysia, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives, and Bhutan. BNP foreign policy adviser Humayun Kabir described the outreach as a "goodwill gesture" to prioritise regional diplomacy. "The region is important to us," he told WION. "It is an important part of [the] foreign policy of Tarique Rahman [to make] this region [an] influential region."
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Rahman has emphasised national unity, restoring law and order, and economic stabilisation in his initial public statements. He appealed for collective efforts to strengthen democracy and institutions after years of political upheaval.
India's response has been prompt and positive. On 13 February, shortly after results were announced, PM Modi held a direct conversation with Rahman, becoming the first foreign leader to do so. He congratulated him on the BNP's victory, calling it a sign of public trust in his leadership, and reaffirmed India's commitment to a "democratic, progressive, and inclusive" Bangladesh. The phone call and high-level representation at the inauguration signal optimism in New Delhi-Dhaka relations.
