Hasina extradition first? Bangladesh sets conditions for Tarique Rahman’s possible India visit

Foreign Ministry spokesman AKM Shahidul Karim said on Sunday that officials in Dhaka and New Delhi had been discussing a possible bilateral visit by Rahman for several weeks.

“However, this process was vitiated by the open press interaction in New Delhi on August 5 by Sheikh Hasina, who has been convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal for committing crimes against humanity. We have made our position clear on this matter,” he was quoted as saying by bdnews24.

Karim said the atmosphere surrounding Rahman’s proposed visit should improve before it could proceed.

“We are of the view that a conducive environment needs to be created for this visit. To this end, we have requested the Indian authorities to expeditiously act on our request to extradite Sheikh Hasina and other fugitive criminals,” he said.

He added that Dhaka had also requested India to hand over the accused killers of Sharif Osman Hadi in accordance with the bilateral extradition treaty.

“And to hand over to Bangladesh the accused killers of Sharif Osman Hadi in compliance with our bilateral extradition treaty. We are awaiting their response,” the official said.

Rahman meets Indian High Commissioner

Last week, Rahman met Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi in Dhaka.

During the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh urged India to “expedite” the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in India since her ouster in 2024, amid renewed tensions between the two countries.

The meeting came days after Hasina delivered a virtual address on August 5 in which she criticised the Rahman-led government, prompting strong objections from Dhaka.

Dhaka seeks faster extradition process

Shahadat Shadhin, Deputy Press Secretary to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister, said Dhaka hoped New Delhi would speed up the process of bringing Hasina back to Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh hopes that India will expedite the process of extraditing Sheikh Hasina,” Shadhin said after the meeting.

He added that Rahman had stressed the need to create a “conducive environment” to further strengthen India-Bangladesh bilateral relations.

Dhaka objects to Hasina’s India-based remarks

The meeting took place against the backdrop of growing friction over Hasina’s August 5 virtual address.

Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman accused Hasina of undermining Bangladesh’s justice system through her remarks and said India should ensure that its territory was not used for activities that could affect Bangladesh’s state institutions.

“On August 5, Ms Hasina has undermined the justice department of Bangladesh, which is a pillar of our nation. The Government of India had allowed her to do that,” Rahman told reporters after meeting the Indian envoy.

He said Dhaka expected India to understand its concerns and added that he was “somewhat reassured” following the conversation with the Indian High Commissioner.--