Tarique Rahman may visit India next week: NDTV

Nahid opposes PM’s India visit over Hasina

Prime Minister Mr. Tarique Rahman may visit India for the first time as prime minister toward the end of next week, Indian media outlet NDTV reported, citing sources in Dhaka and New Delhi. The date has not yet been finalised.

Foreign Affairs State Minister Ms. Shama Obaid said the prime minister’s visits to India or Japan have not been finalised. She said, “When a convicted person speaks from Indian soil, the people of Bangladesh do not take it well. July is still alive in people’s minds, and the bloodstains have not yet dried.” Meanwhile,National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Mr. Nahid Islam opposed the proposed India visit until key issues in Bangladesh-India relations are resolved, including the extradition of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, India’s role in Bangladesh’s internal politics and a new framework for bilateral relations.

Mr. Nahid said, “Until the issue of Sheikh Hasina’s extradition and the new basis of Bangladesh-India relations are resolved, Tarique Rahman cannot go to India.” He also alleged that the Indian government had directly or indirectly supported Ms. Hasina’s virtual speech from New Delhi on August 5. He said statements made by Ms. Hasina from Delhi should be viewed as “Delhi’s statements” rather than simply her own.

According to NDTV, a two-day visit could include a meeting between Mr. Tarique Rahman and Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. Discussions may cover trade, connectivity, energy, border management and regional security. Relations between the two countries have remained strained since Ms. Hasina left Bangladesh in August 2024 and took shelter in India. Bangladesh has formally sought her extradition after a tribunal sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity. India has said it is reviewing the request through legal and diplomatic channels.

Indian newspaper The Tribune separately reported that Mr. Tarique Rahman may avoid both an India visit and the BRICS summit unless New Delhi extradites Ms. Hasina to Bangladesh. It said Mr. Tarique conveyed this position during his meeting with Indian High Commissioner Mr. Dinesh Trivedi in Dhaka on August 10. Mr. Trivedi later described the meeting as part of India’s efforts to build “positive, constructive and forward-looking” relations with Bangladesh and said there was no issue between the two countries that could not be resolved.