No decision yet on Bangladesh PM's visit to India, Dhaka says

NEW DELHI/DHAKA: Bangladesh has not made a decision yet on Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to India, his press secretary said on Friday, after Indian media reported that Rahman would be visiting New Delhi from August 23-25.

The South Asian neighbours have been in talks for weeks regarding Rahman’s first trip to New Delhi since taking office in February, as they work to repair ties strained by the 2024 ouster of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina fled to India after student-led protests ended her long rule and has lived there in exile. Dhaka has repeatedly asked New Delhi to extradite her. India has said that it is examining the request.

“No decision has yet been made on the visit,” Rahman’s Press Secretary A A M Saleh told Reuters, adding that Dhaka was waiting for India’s response on the extradition of Hasina and “other fugitive criminals”.

The Indian foreign ministry did not have any comments to make on the visit, Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters at a regular media briefing.

Rahman’s six-month-old government has sought to maintain good relations with India since coming to power, but signalled last week that a more favourable diplomatic environment was needed for the trip, days after Hasina addressed journalists 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.