Bangladesh seeks reset with India, calls Hasina-era ties uncomfortable

Dhaka,UPDATED: Sep 13, 2026 21:10 IST

Bangladesh on Sunday said it wants to “reset” its relationship with India and build a new bilateral engagement based on mutual interests, with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir describing ties during the tenure of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina as “uncomfortable”. He said Dhaka wants to move towards a new relationship with New Delhi through bilateral talks.

The remarks came two days after Bangladesh said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not take part in the BRICS Summit hosted by India because he was not invited to the event in his personal capacity, and that the invitation was instead extended to the BIMSTEC chair. The two-day BRICS Summit concluded on Sunday, and India had invited Rahman to attend it as chairman of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, while a separate bilateral invitation had been in place since February.

“We want to move towards a new relationship, which should be done through bilateral discussions, not through a multilateral forum,” Kobir told reporters. He also said Bangladesh needs to move beyond what he described as an “excessive preoccupation” with India and approach ties with New Delhi in a balanced way, focusing on mutual interests and treating the relationship as part of its wider engagement with other countries.

“We have to get out of the India fascination. India is just another country, and Bangladesh wants good bilateral relations with it,” he said. Responding to a question, Kobir added, “Breakfast in India, lunch in India, dinner in India -- then when will you eat your own food?”

India-Bangladesh ties have been strained over New Delhi providing refuge to Hasina, who fled to India following her ouster in a youth-led agitation in August 2024. On Bangladesh’s diplomatic schedule, Kobir said Prime Minister Rahman is set to leave for New York on September 21 to attend the 81st session of the UN General Assembly and will stay there until September 26.

Asked about the possibility of a meeting between Rahman and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UNGA, Kobir said such meetings are often decided at the last moment during major international conferences. “The primary focus of the Prime Minister’s visit is to address the UN General Assembly,” he said, adding that details of the sideline meetings would be known in due course. Overall, Bangladesh said it is seeking a fresh bilateral framework with India while keeping its immediate focus on upcoming diplomatic engagements.

With PTI Inputs

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