Tarique Rahman’s India Visit: Dhaka, Delhi Resume Official Talks

Bangladesh and Indian officials have resumed discussions on arrangements for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s proposed visit to New Delhi, with diplomatic sources indicating that both sides are exploring a suitable window in November.

Officials from the two countries have held a series of meetings in Dhaka and are preparing a possible agenda for the visit. Key issues under consideration could include strengthening bilateral trade and renewing the Ganga Water Treaty.

Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have faced tensions following a virtual press conference by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August, which drew strong reactions in Bangladesh. Hasina has been living in India since leaving Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, according to media reports.

Sources in Dhaka said Rahman is due to travel to New York this month to attend the United Nations General Assembly and is expected to have a number of diplomatic engagements throughout October and November. Officials are therefore working to identify an appropriate time for his New Delhi trip in November.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi has recently met several Bangladeshi officials, including Water Resources Minister Mohammed Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee and Prime Minister’s Adviser for Education Mahdi Amin.

Rahman was invited to the recently held BRICS Summit in his capacity as BIMSTEC chair, but Bangladesh did not send a representative. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kobir said Dhaka wanted to “reset” ties with India and would seek to arrange a bilateral visit at a “conducive” time.

The report also noted that the BNP government had earlier regarded the cancellation of a programme organised by supporters of Hasina’s Awami League as a positive development.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry had expressed “outrage” over Hasina’s latest virtual address, in which she claimed that law and order had deteriorated in the country. Rahman, meanwhile, is reported to have maintained contacts with India during his years in exile in London.

According to sources in Dhaka, his engagement with Indian officials resumed at least by February 2024, when he sent an emissary to India to assess New Delhi’s position ahead of the January 2024 election, which the BNP boycotted under his leadership.

Two months before that election, current Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku travelled to New Delhi and urged India to provide “unambiguous support to the democratic aspirations” of Bangladesh’s people, according to an interview with The Hindu.

In 2018, a three-member BNP delegation comprising Abdul Awal Mintoo, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Humayun Kabir also visited New Delhi for discussions with the Indian government. The Daily Star reported at the time that the visit followed Rahman’s instruction for the party to reassess its approach towards India, with its earlier policy described as “hostile” and “wrong and misguided.”