New Delhi and Dhaka have not been able to move past the contentious question of Sheikh Hasina, the ousted Bangladeshi leader now living in exile in India.
New Delhi, India – Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s first trip to India has been put on hold, highlighting the strained ties between the two South Asian neighbours since the July 2024 student-led uprising that forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country.
Since coming to power in February, Rahman – the son of Hasina’s archrival, the late Khaleda Zia – has aimed to improve ties with India. But a press conference conducted by Hasina, who lives in India in exile, has riled Bangladesh.
Dhaka says that the August 5 press conference has “vitiated” the atmosphere, adding that “a propitious environment needs to be created for the visit” of Prime Minister Rahman.
For now, Rahman’s trip looks uncertain, as Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said officials from both countries have been engaged in talks for “several weeks” to work out a possible solution.
Here is everything you need to know about the latest diplomatic turbulence between the South Asian neighbours.
New Delhi had extended an invitation to Rahman for a stand-alone visit to India this month, ahead of next month’s scheduled BRICS summit. BRICS is a grouping of major emerging economies, currently chaired by India.
Since Rahman took office, there have been several exchanges between top ministers and diplomats from both sides. India appointed Dinesh Trivedi, a former minister and member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as its envoy to Dhaka in a rare political appointment to the key post.
Last Tuesday, Trivedi appealed to Rahman’s government, arguing that the Indian mission is not asking Dhaka “to forget the past”, in an apparent reference to Hasina’s exile in India. “Keep the past and sort out the differences of the past. But move on. Don’t get stagnant,” he added.
At a reception hosted by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, Trivedi said that Modi wanted Rahman’s visit to be “memorable”.
But those plans for a visit were already derailed after Dhaka took offence to Hasina virtually addressing a presser at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in New Delhi on August 5, marking two years of her ouster.
India clarified that it had nothing to do with the event, but to no avail.
Both capitals have been tight-lipped about Rahman’s visit. “I have nothing to say right now,” said India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to a question about Rahman’s visit.
Speaking at an event on Saturday, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said India and Bangladesh’s bilateral ties must meet the “test of mutual interest”.
“It has to work for them, it has to work for us,” he said.
