India withdraws Tarique's welcome rehearsal notice shortly after issuing it
The notice cancelling tomorrow’s change of guard ceremony was withdrawn about an hour after it was posted on India’s Press Information Bureau website.
India's President's Secretariat today (21 August) withdrew an official announcement that had cancelled tomorrow's weekly change-of-guard ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan for a rehearsal of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's ceremonial welcome.
The withdrawn announcement was published on the website of India's Press Information Bureau (PIB) around 2:00pm (local time).
About an hour later, a subsequent communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan Secretariat said the earlier press release "stands withdrawn."
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The weekly change of guard ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan is held every Saturday. For visiting heads of state and other dignitaries on state visits, Rashtrapati Bhavan hosts ceremonial welcomes as part of India's military and diplomatic protocol. Full-dress rehearsals are held a day before such ceremonies as part of the protocol.
The withdrawn notice had stated: "The Change of Guard Ceremony at the Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan will not take place this Saturday (22 August 2026) due to the full rehearsal for the ceremonial welcome of the prime minister of Bangladesh."
The development came as India's Ministry of External Affairs remained tight-lipped about Tarique's possible visit.
Asked about the Bangladesh prime minister's possible visit at India's Ministry of External Affairs' biweekly media briefing today, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said he had "nothing to say" on the matter and would share information if there was any update.
Jaiswal was also asked about a reported comment by Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir that Dhaka was open to the idea of joining a proposed Mecca defence pact involving Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
"We continue to follow all the developments in our neighbourhood, and we continue to follow them. Having said that, let me say that we stand for peaceful resolution of the West Asia conflict through dialogue and diplomacy," he added.
Asked about India's Janata Dal (United) parliamentarian Sanjay Jha's remark that Bihar favours renegotiating the Ganges water-sharing treaty with Bangladesh, Jaiswal said all water-related and common-river issues between India and Bangladesh are discussed under the bilateral Joint River Commission.
He added that meetings of the technical committees dealing with the Ganges treaty continue to be held.
