Ex-Union Minister Dinesh Trivedi Appointed India's Envoy To Bangladesh: Who Is He?

Former Union Minister and BJP leader Dinesh Trivedi was formally appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to Bangladesh on Monday, replacing career diplomat Pranay Verma. The move came as both sides are seeking to repair the bilateral ties that came under severe strain during the tenure of Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.

Trivedi is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a brief statement. Meanwhile, Verma has been appointed as New Delhi’s next ambassador to Belgium and the European Union (EU).

Trivedi’s appointment comes as a surprise as it would mark a rare moment where a politician is being appointed as an envoy, which has almost exclusively remained the domain of

senior IFS officials. This is the first time in over three decades that a political appointee has been sent to head a mission in a neighbouring country.

Who Is Dinesh Trivedi?

Trivedi has a political career spanning three decades with deep roots in West Bengal and familiarity with cross-border issues, which are being viewed as crucial in India’s attempts to rebuild ties with Bangladesh. He has represented West Bengal for a long time and speaks several languages, including Bengali.

He served as a Union Minister during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government under Dr Manmohan Singh as a member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). He was a close confidant of Mamata Banerjee before his high-profile resignation over the 2012 Railway Budget, where he proposed a passenger fare hike.

He has served as a Member of Parliament in both the Lok Sabha (representing Barrackpore, 2009-2019) and the Rajya Sabha (1990-96, 2002-08, 2020-21). In March 2021, he resigned from his Rajya Sabha seat and the TMC to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Trivedi has pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Texas at Austin, United States. He is also a trained pilot and previously ran his own air freight company.

India-Bangladesh Relations

The move comes during a complex period for India-Bangladesh relations, involving the exit of former PM Sheikh Hasina and the rise of a new government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) under Tarique Rahman.

Earlier this month, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman visited India and held talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The focus of the meetings was to bolster the bilateral ties including in areas of trade, energy and people-to-people exchanges.