An email to the media by the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday (August 21, 2026) briefly created the impression that the long-under-discussion visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would take place soon. The email sent in the afternoon was headlined, “No change of guard ceremony this Saturday”.

“The Change of Guard Ceremony at the Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan will not take place this Saturday (August 22, 2026) due to the full rehearsal for the ceremonial welcome of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh,” said the email that was issued in the name of Navika Gupta, Deputy Press Secretary to the President of India. The email created the impression that a visit by Mr. Rahman is imminent.

However, soon another release came from the Rashtrapati Bhavan negating the previous note, saying, “A press release issued on the subject ‘No change of guard ceremony this Saturday’, which was issued on August 21, 2026, stands withdrawn.”

These two announcements added to the buzz around Mr. Rahman’s visit plans for New Delhi, as the two sides had been in talks on it. The plans reportedly ran into trouble after Bangladesh demanded that India create “propitious” circumstances for the visit by extraditing deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the suspected killers of radical student leader Osman Hadi.

Published - August 22, 2026 12:59 am IST