Dhaka:
Amid tensions surrounding Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina’s media event in Delhi last week, High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi met the South Asian country’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka. The meeting followed the Indian ambassador’s meeting with Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, Dr Khalilur Rahman, and Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister, Humayun Kabir.
India has invited Tarique Rahman to attend the BRICS summit next month as the current Chair of the BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).
The Hasina Address
While India-Bangladesh ties are in the midst of a reset, ousted premier Hasina’s press interaction at an event organised by the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia in New Delhi has led to a strong reaction from Bangladesh.
While Dhaka has labelled the event as an affront to its sovereignty, New Delhi maintains that it played no role in its organisation and did not endorse the statements made at the press meet. The Ministry of External Affairs said that the programme was organised by a private entity and New Delhi had “no involvement in the event” and did not endorse the views expressed during it.
Dhaka’s Protest
But despite India’s clarification, the episode has added another layer of strain to the Dhaka-New Delhi ties, already complicated by Hasina’s extradition request.
Hasina fled to India in 2024 after student-led protests forced her from power, and she has remained in exile there ever since. In 2025, a Bangladeshi court sentenced her to death on charges of crimes against humanity for ordering a crackdown on the uprising. The United Nations, in a report, said nearly 1,400 people were killed in the crackdown. Hasina denies any wrongdoing.
Bangladesh has repeatedly sought Hasina’s extradition, but India has so far declined to hand her over.
The Balancing Act
In the midst of the chaos, the Indian envoy to Bangladesh has maintained a conciliatory tone and extended his support to Rahman. Speaking at the opening of a play area for children of visa applicants at the Indian Visa Application Centre in Dhaka, Dinesh Trivedi said he remained confident about the relationship between New Delhi and Dhaka.
“The Prime Minister of Bangladesh… we all respect him a lot. I have listened to his speeches many times, and he talks from his heart. This, I have seen. He is a people’s person. And our prime minister is also of the people,” Trivedi told reporters.
The Indian envoy has indicated that dialogue remains the way forward, saying that “problems are sorted out when we talk to each other”.
“I feel that when… when two leaders meet, a lot of problems are solved. Problems are sorted out when we talk to each other. And I have full confidence that people are together, and a solution will definitely happen… it will happen. I am very confident. There is nothing negative here; everything is positive,” he added.
