Dhaka, Bangladesh — New Delhi and Dhaka had been quietly planning Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s first visit to India since taking office earlier this year, when a news conference shattered those efforts. Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, convicted of crimes against humanity in her country, addressed a news conference held in the heart of the Indian capital by video on August 5, where she, her son and other party colleagues criticised the mass uprising that had brought her down. Bangladesh responded swiftly, saying that it was “outraged” that Hasina had been allowed to speak publicly from Indian soil, where she has been in exile since her ouster in August 2024.
Dhaka had specifically warned New Delhi against allowing political activities that could affect bilateral relations. Bangladesh subsequently said a “propitious environment” was needed before the trip, while asking New Delhi to act on extradition requests involving Hasina and other fugitives. India says the requests remain “under examination” through established procedures.
But interviews with Bangladeshi officials and analysts suggest the immediate dispute may be more nuanced than a simple extradition standoff. The key question may be less when India hands Hasina over than what India allows her to do while she remains there. Faisal Mahmud, a former press minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, said extradition and Hasina’s political activities should be treated as separate issues.
Extradition, he said, was “an entirely different matter, and a far more complicated and lengthy one” that the Rahman government understood. During an April 4, 2025 meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, then head of Bangladesh’s interim administration, asked New Delhi to prevent Hasina from making what he described as “incendiary statements” from Indian soil. Humaiun Kobir, deputy head of Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry, told Al Jazeera that Dhaka wanted “a good and working relationship with India based on trust and mutual respect”.
He argued that relations could enter “a new phase” if the leadership of both countries wanted it, but said New Delhi must recognise Bangladesh’s changed political reality following the 2024 uprising. His alleged killers were subsequently arrested by India, where they had crossed over. Yet Kobir’s comments also suggest Dhaka does not want the Hasina dispute to indefinitely prevent high-level engagement.
Talks over Rahman’s visit remain under way, he said, describing a meeting between the Bangladeshi and Indian prime ministers as ultimately unavoidable. Over the weekend, in fact, India’s Rashtrapati Bhavan — the presidential palace — issued a notice suggesting that it was preparing to host Rahman, only to withdraw that document hours later. That distinction matters because restricting Hasina’s political activity and extraditing her present very different challenges for New Delhi.
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