No decision has yet been made on a visit to India by Bangladesh Prime Minister Tareque Rahman, his press secretary, A A M Saleh, said. He told Reuters news agency this on Friday, August 21.
Several Indian media outlets had earlier reported that Prime Minister Tareque Rahman would visit New Delhi from August 23 to 25. However, Dhaka says no final decision on the matter has yet been made.
This could be Tareque Rahman’s first visit to New Delhi since taking office. The two countries have been holding talks on various issues for several weeks in an effort to move past the strain in Dhaka-Delhi relations that followed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster and flight to India for shelter in 2024.
Saleh told Reuters that no decision on the visit has yet been made, and that Dhaka is awaiting India’s response to Bangladesh’s requests regarding Sheikh Hasina and other fugitives currently in India.
Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh for India on August 5, 2024, amid a student-public uprising. Since then, the interim government repeatedly requested New Delhi to send her back to the country. India has said it is reviewing Bangladesh’s extradition request.
Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal did not comment on Tareque Rahman’s potential India visit at a regular briefing on Friday.
Since coming to power six months ago, Tareque Rahman’s government has tried to keep relations with India normal and friendly. However, Dhaka signaled last week that a more favorable diplomatic environment is needed for the prime minister’s India visit.
A few days before that, Dhaka reacted sharply after Sheikh Hasina spoke with journalists.
Her government was accused of a violent crackdown during the 2024 uprising. She was later sentenced to death in absentia in a case last November. She has denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated, and has said she will return to the country in December.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report