Dr. Khalilur Rahman, a Bangladeshi diplomat and economist who served in the interim administration as national security adviser and as the chief adviser’s special representative on the Rohingya issue, has been appointed foreign minister in the new government led by Prime Minister Tareq Rahman.
According to the account provided, Rahman stepped down from his interim advisory position on Tuesday morning, 17 February 2026, and was sworn in later the same day as foreign minister under a technocrat quota. The appointment has sparked a lively debate across political and diplomatic circles, with supporters pointing to continuity and experience and critics warning that earlier controversies could follow him into a sensitive ministry.
In remarks cited from a Jagonews report dated 18 February 2026, Dhaka University political science professor Dr. Sabbir Ahmed said the decision created an “additional controversy,” noting that there had previously been objections to Rahman before his selection for the foreign ministry. Former ambassador Humayun Kabir, the report said, declined to comment directly but noted that stakeholders had begun speaking up, implying both advantages and disadvantages.
Others portrayed the appointment as a calculated bet on competence and continuity. Parvez Karim Abbasi, identified as an assistant professor of economics at East West University and executive director of the Center for Governance Studies, argued that Rahman’s role in the interim administration positioned him to carry forward sensitive diplomatic and economic engagements, including leadership on tariff negotiations with the United States and involvement on the Rohingya file.
Rahman himself pushed back against questions about the manner of his elevation. After a meeting with Nepal’s foreign minister at the state guest house Padma, he told journalists he had not become foreign minister “by force,” and suggested critics could recheck the numbers behind the election and appointment process.
He also laid out broad themes for the government’s diplomacy, saying it wanted to return to the foreign policy approach associated with the era of President Ziaur Rahman. He cited the prime minister’s “Bangladesh first” line, and said the government would seek balanced, responsible relations with all countries while holding firm on national interest and sovereignty.
The report also recalled that during the previous year a senior BNP leader, Salahuddin Ahmed, had sharply criticized Rahman while he was national security adviser, alleging the state had handed a sensitive post to a “foreign citizen,” and linking him to fears around a “humanitarian corridor” concept. Those allegations, as presented, remain part of the political memory now resurfacing as he takes charge of the foreign ministry.
Rahman’s professional background, as described, spans the Bangladesh Civil Service and senior roles in the United Nations system, including work connected to least developed countries and major UN publications. His education includes a master’s in economics from the University of Dhaka, and later studies at Tufts and Harvard, including an MA in law and diplomacy and a PhD in economics.
For now, his early days in office are unfolding under a familiar mix of expectation and scrutiny, with the Rohingya issue and the tone of Bangladesh’s external relationships placed squarely at the center of public attention.
