India envoy meets Bangladesh PM amid fresh strain in bilateral ties

Dhaka,UPDATED: Aug 10, 2026 14:22 IST

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday, in a move seen as important for ties between the two neighbours at a time of fresh strain in the relationship. The meeting came days after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s virtual media interaction in New Delhi triggered sharp reactions in Bangladesh.

The meeting also took place amid speculation that Rahman, who has been invited by India to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, may skip the event. It was not immediately clear what Trivedi and Rahman discussed during their half-hour meeting.

The Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi said in a post on X that the meeting lasted around 30 minutes and was expected to help further strengthen bilateral ties and engagements between the two countries. This was Trivedi’s first courtesy call on Rahman, more than six weeks after he took charge as India’s High Commissioner in Dhaka with the status of a Union Minister. A senior leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Trivedi is the first politician to hold the diplomatic post.

On Sunday, Trivedi said a meeting between Rahman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi could help address problems in bilateral ties. “When two leaders meet, a lot of problems are solved. I have full confidence [about the problem resolution through the meeting],” Trivedi said. “We all respect Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman a lot. He is a people’s person, and our PM is also a people’s person.”

Also on Sunday, Trivedi met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, though neither side shared details of the discussion. “I can only tell you it was a pre-arranged meeting, and I do not know what they discussed,” a senior official familiar with the high commissioner’s meeting with the foreign minister said.

Ties between India and Bangladesh have come under strain after Hasina addressed the press virtually on August 5 in New Delhi. During the interaction, she said she was determined to return home in December to put the country on the “right track” by restoring democracy, despite the risk of imprisonment or a death sentence. Bangladesh reacted strongly, saying the event had hurt the sentiments of its people and could adversely affect efforts to improve bilateral ties with India. Dhaka described Hasina as an “absconding, convicted genocider”.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on August 7 that it had no role in the media event concerning Hasina and did not endorse anything said at the forum about the Bangladesh government. Hasina was ousted in August 2024 after violent student-led protests and fled to India. In November 2025, a special tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced her to death in absentia over alleged “crimes against humanity” during the crackdown on protesters. Dhaka has since been seeking her extradition from India.

The latest diplomatic strain comes amid an uneasy reset in India-Bangladesh ties after Rahman’s Bangladesh ist Party came to power in February, following a period of strained relations under the interim government over issues including Hasina’s extradition, border matters and Dhaka’s foreign policy tilt towards China. The current government in Bangladesh has said Hasina will have to surrender and face the law if she returns, as both sides continue to navigate a tense phase in their relationship.

With PTI Inputs

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