Bangladesh yet to decide on PM Rahman's visit to India

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's office confirmed no decision has been made regarding his visit to India for the BRICS summit.

Dhaka is awaiting New Delhi's response to its request for the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and other 'fugitive criminals'.

Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser stated there is 'no hurry' for a top-level visit without clearly defined national interests.

Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi has emphasised the need for the visit to sort out bilateral issues despite differences.

Sheikh Hasina, ousted in August 2024 and sentenced to death in absentia, has been living in India since fleeing Dhaka.

 

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's office on Friday said that Dhaka was yet to decide on his visit to India, coinciding with the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) summit next month, amid uncertainty over his trip to Delhi.

"No decision has been made yet on his India visit," the prime minister's Press Secretary A A M Saleh Shibly told IWP.

Extradition Request and Diplomatic Stance : He said Bangladesh was waiting for New Delhi's response to its request to extradite deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 'other fugitive criminals' currently staying in India.

Shibly's comments came a day after the state-run BSS news agency quoted the premier's foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kobir as saying that Dhaka is in 'no hurry to arrange a top-level visit without clearly defined national interests'.

"There is no justification for rushing into a top-level visit by going beyond the national interest," Kobir said.

Indian Diplomatic Efforts : In recent weeks, Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi held a series of meetings with top political brass of Bangladesh, including PM Rahman, underlining the need to create a conducive environment to further advance the bilateral ties.

On Monday, Trivedi said the Bangladesh premier's visit to India should take place much sooner despite 'our differences'.

"Issues can only be sorted out by meeting, and I am very hopeful," Trivedi told a dinner hosted in his honour by the honorary consul general of a European country.

Background on Sheikh Hasina :Bangladesh's foreign ministry earlier said that Dhaka wants a 'favourable and propitious environment' before any top-level trip.

It said weeks of diplomatic discussions over the potential bilateral visit were severely disrupted and complicated by Hasina's virtual press conference on August 5, 2026.

Hasina, 78, was ousted from power in August 2024 following violent student-led protests. She has been living in India since fleeing Dhaka on August 5 that year.

The subsequent interim regime led by Muhammad Yunus tried Hasina in a special tribunal in absentia and handed down the death penalty for ordering a deadly crackdown to tame the protestors.

On Friday, Leader of the Opposition and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman said that the prime minister may visit any country, including India, but such visits should be based on 'equality, mutual respect and friendship'.

"The people of this country will no longer accept anyone's hegemony. They want relations with India based on friendship, mutual respect and equality," he told a conference of party leaders in northwestern Rajshahi.