Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is likely to visit India from August 23 to 25, the Indian Express newspaper reported on Friday. This would be his first trip to the country since taking office in February.
The visit comes amid efforts by India and Bangladesh to repair ties strained by the 2024 ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whom Dhaka has asked New Delhi to extradite.
There was no official word on Rahman’s scheduled visit from either side until this report was filed.
Hasina’s media interaction
Rahman’s six-month old government has sought good relations with India since coming to power and the countries have been talking for weeks over his possible visit to New Delhi.
Bangladesh, however, signalled last week that a more favourable diplomatic environment was needed for the trip, days after Hasina addressed a media interaction in a move condemned by Dhaka.
Forced to flee Bangladesh following violent protests against her government, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia in November for ordering a deadly crackdown on the student-led uprising.
She has denied the charges, dismissing them as politically motivated, and told reporters that she would return to her country in December.
Earlier this month, Bangladesh Foreign ministryofficial AKM Shahidul Karim played down media speculation about a possible trip by Rahman to India next week. “We are of the view that a propitious environment needs to be created for the visit,” Karim told reporters.
“To this end, we have urged the Indian authorities to expedite their efforts to extradite Sheikh Hasina and other fugitives.”
The proposed visit was being considered, as both sides have been keen to arrange a bilateral engagement, while scheduling issues had so far remained a hurdle, according to earlier reports in the Bangladesh media.
The reports of Rahman’s first visit to India came after Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi held a one-to-one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 11 August, a day after the High Commissioner met Rahman in Dhaka.
Hasina faces the death penalty in Bangladesh
The two neighbouring nations have had a strained relationship since deadly anti-government protests brought down Hasina’s government and prompted her to escape to neighbouring India, where she currently remains.
Hasina faces the death penalty in Bangladesh after being convicted of crimes against humanity, and Dhaka has repeatedly requested her extradition.
Ties were strained further following Sheikh Hasina’s public remarks in New Delhi earlier this month.
On August 5, Hasina appeared in a audio-only address organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi to mark the second anniversary of her ouster following the 2024 student-led uprising, an event that drew strong objections from Dhaka.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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