Bangladesh has announced that any potential visit by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to India will be contingent upon the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. This development comes at a significant time, as Hasina has indicated plans to return to Bangladesh in December. However, the recent statement from Dhaka did not directly address her intentions to return.
Instead, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) condemned the online press conference in which Hasina made the announcement, while focusing on its demand for her extradition from India. The timing is significant. A day before MOFA ruled out Rahman’s visit to India, M. Humayun Kabir, a former Bangladesh ambassador to the United States and now president of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, argued in The Daily Star that ties with India needed a fresh assessment.
That position comes as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government completes six months in office and faces growing criticism over its performance. Analysts quoted in the report also suggested that some of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s efforts to project a people-centric government were being undermined by the conduct of some of his party colleagues. The government is also facing pressure from the opposition alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, which has criticised Dhaka’s growing outreach to Pakistan, even if it comes at the expense of relations with India. New Delhi would have to examine the legal and judicial proceedings involved before deciding whether to hand over a former prime minister who is facing a death sentence. For New Delhi, the challenge is equally delicate: any decision must take into account the extradition treaty, the nature of the charges, the judicial process and the consequences of handing over a former prime minister facing a death sentence.
For India, therefore, the issue is not simply whether an extradition treaty exists.
“The departure now is that Bangladesh says it will no longer lean excessively on one particular partner for political or domestic reasons. Instead, it will work with everyone according to its own needs and interests,” he wrote. A media report on Tuesday described the government as “Strong on optics, less so on delivery”, citing concerns over law and order, energy supplies and the government’s ability to deliver on its promises.
