Rashtrapati Bhavan created a fresh round of confusion around Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s expected visit to New Delhi on Thursday, after it issued and then withdrew, within the space of an hour, a statement that appeared to confirm preparations for his ceremonial welcome.
What the Original Statement Said
At 2:13 pm on Thursday, the President’s House released a statement titled “No Change of Guard Ceremony This Saturday,” announcing that the weekly ceremony at the Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan would not be held on August 22.
“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.”
The wording effectively signalled that India was preparing a formal ceremonial welcome, complete with a tri-services Guard of Honour, national anthems, and introductions by the President and Prime Minister, for Rahman’s arrival, even though neither government had officially confirmed the visit at that point.
The Retraction, an Hour Later
At around 3:28 pm, the President’s Secretariat issued a second statement withdrawing the first.
“The press release issued on the subject ‘No Change of Guard Ceremony this Saturday,’ which was issued on August 21, 2026, stands withdrawn.”
Both statements carried the signature of Navika Gupta, Deputy Press Secretary to the President. According to The Tribune, the retraction followed a flag from the Ministry of External Affairs, given that Rahman’s visit had not yet been formally confirmed by either New Delhi or Dhaka at the time.
How the Confusion Happened
Under standard protocol, cancellations of customary public events at Rashtrapati Bhavan, such as the weekly Change of Guard ceremony, are handled by the ceremonial division, which reports to the Military Secretary to the President. This division typically shares cancellation notices with the press office for public release. Vetting intimations tied to visits from heads of state, however, falls under a separate office within the President’s Secretariat, and it remains unclear how the ceremonial division came to reference the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s visit before it had cleared that separate confirmation process.
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The Backdrop: A Visit Clouded by the Hasina Row
Reports had earlier indicated that Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was likely to travel to New Delhi between August 23 and 25, in what would be his first visit to India as Prime Minister. The trip comes at a sensitive moment in India-Bangladesh relations, with Dhaka continuing to press for the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in India since fleeing Bangladesh in August 2024. The Ministry of External Affairs has said Bangladesh’s extradition requests concerning Hasina are being examined through India’s established processes.
The rare public retraction, unusual for an institution like Rashtrapati Bhavan, has added a layer of uncertainty to a visit already unfolding against a strained diplomatic backdrop, coming just weeks ahead of the BRICS summit scheduled for September 12 and 13. Whether the ceremonial welcome referenced in the withdrawn statement goes ahead as planned will likely depend on how quickly both governments move to formally confirm the visit’s dates and programme.
Summary: Rashtrapati Bhavan issued and then withdrew a statement within an hour on Thursday, initially announcing the cancellation of Saturday’s Change of Guard ceremony to accommodate rehearsals for Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman’s ceremonial welcome. The retraction came after the Ministry of External Affairs flagged that the visit had not been officially confirmed by either government.
