Bangladesh has summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Pawan Bade at 3 pm Dhaka time on Monday after Indian immigration authorities briefly stopped PM advisor Zahid ur Rahman at Delhi airport, CNN-News18
has learned.
Rahman, an advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, had arrived in India as part of a delegation for an official meeting when immigration officials flagged his name during routine checks. He was held for verification before being cleared for entry.
Sources told CNN-News18 that the hold-up was caused by an administrative error. Rahman’s name had previously been removed from a social media-related blacklist but remained on a separate immigration watchlist, which triggered the alert on arrival. Immigration officials resolved the discrepancy and cleared him for entry.
The summoning of Bade marks Dhaka’s first formal diplomatic response to the incident. There was no immediate official statement from either the Indian Ministry of External Affairs or the Bangladesh foreign ministry at the time of publication.
The episode comes at a delicate moment for India-Bangladesh ties. Both sides have been working to strengthen engagement following political developments in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024. The summoning of the Indian deputy high commissioner, within hours of the airport incident becoming public, indicates that Dhaka is treating the matter seriously at the official level.
