Bangladesh PM will not visit India until Hasina is handed over

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in Dhaka said on Sunday (August 16, 2026) that officials of India and Bangladesh have been in talks for “several weeks” for a possible India visit by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and stated that the atmosphere of bilateral relations was “vitiated” by deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s August 5, 2026, press conference held in Delhi’s Foreign Correspondents Club.

MoFA’s official spokesperson A.K.M. Shahidul Karim said that “a propitious environment” is required for Mr. Rahman’s visit and urged India to “extradite” Ms. Hasina and the suspected killers of radical student leader Osman Hadi.

“We are of the view that a propitious environment needs to be created for the visit. To this end, we have requested the Indian authorities to expeditiously act on our request to extradite Sheikh Hasina and other fugitive criminals, and to hand over to Bangladesh the accused killers of Shaheed Sharif Osman Hadi in compliance with our bilateral extradition treaty,” said Mr. Karim in a statement, adding, “We are awaiting their response.”

Ms. Hasina sought refuge in India on August 5, 2024, after a popular uprising toppled her government. Hadi, a radical student leader who was part of the protests and subsequently planned to contest the election, was shot in Dhaka by unknown assailants in December 2025. He passed away in Singapore while undergoing treatment on December 18, 2025, leading to widespread violence in Bangladesh some of which also targeted India’s diplomatic missions and minority Hindu community members. Dhaka has been maintaining that the suspected shooters involved in the incident escaped to India, but New Delhi has not said anything definitive in response.

Diplomatic sources had earlier indicated that bilateral talks had been on the right track after India distanced itself from Ms. Hasina’s press conference in which she had targeted Mr. Rahman’s government. Subsequently, Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka Dinesh Trivedi called on Mr. Rahman on August 10.

In view of these exchanges, sources in Dhaka had indicated that “positive movements” had started and that the window for a big ticket visit from Dhaka was gradually opening. Mr. Karim confirmed the consultation and said, “Officials of Bangladesh and Inda have been in touch with each other for several weeks on the possibility of a bilateral visit by Honourable Prime Minister Mr. Tarique Rahman to India. However, this process was vitiated by the open press interaction in New Delhi on August 5 by Sheikh Hasina…”.

The official spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry, Randhir Jaiswal, had reiterated last Friday that India had extended two invites to Prime Minister Rahman – one for the upcoming BRICS summit to be held here and the other an invite for a bilateral visit. The latter was extended on February 17, when Mr. Rahman was sworn in after winning the general election. Earlier, on August 7, Mr. Jaiswal had distanced India from Ms. Hasina’s press conference saying that India does not “endorse” the comments made against the “duly constituted government” of Bangladesh.

In Sunday’s remarks, Mr. Karim reiterated Dhaka’s “Bangladesh first” foreign policy and said the government will continue to “promote friendly bilateral relations with other countries” including with neighbours, “on the basis of sovereign equality, national dignity, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and mutual benefit”.

-The Hindu