Has Bangladesh officially rejected India's invitation to establish intelligence-sharing relations?

Fact-Check: Has Bangladesh officially rejected India’s invitation to establish intelligence-sharing relations?

Fact Check en Fake Featured

A claim has recently surfaced on social media platform X(formerly Twitter) alleging Bangladesh has officially rejected India’s invitation to establish intelligence-sharing relations. The claim has been shared by Pakistan-based handles on X.

An account named Ironclad, better known for sharing misinformation, posted an image on X and wrote: “Bangladesh has officially rejected India’s invitation to establish intelligence sharing relations”

Another account also shared this claim stating similar facts. The preview link can be seen here.

Fact-Check

To investigate this claim, the DFRAC team searched some keywords on Google related to the above-viral claim and found that no such reports have been available online confirming this claim.

Contrary to this claim, we came across some reports published by the National Herald, The Economic Times and India.com in January 2025 citing that Bangladesh Meteorological Department officials would not attend a seminar in India to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Referring to the government’s restriction on unnecessary foreign travel at public expense, Bangladesh declined India’s invitation. According to news agency PTI, the seminar was held in Delhi on January 14. Invitations were sent to neighboring countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, which were part of undivided India. Pakistan has confirmed its participation, but Bangladesh has declined it.

A collage of news headlines reporting Bangladesh's decision to skip India's 150-year celebration of the Meteorological Department. The headlines are from various media sources, including India.com, The Economic Times, and National Herald. The text emphasizes Bangladesh rejecting an invitation from India, with a mention of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus' government. The image features a gradient blue background with the DFRAC logo in the top right corner, indicating a fact-checking or media analysis source.

Conclusion

It is clear from DFRAC’s fact-check that the above-viral claim of rejecting India’s invitation by Bangladesh is completely fake. In reality, no reports have been found in the mainstream media.

Analysis: Fake