Dhaka: In a significant diplomatic engagement between India and Bangladesh, High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi met Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman
in Dhaka on Monday (August 10). The development came amid tensions over Sheikh Hasina’s recent media event in Delhi. On Sunday, Trivedi also held a one-on-one meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman. Notably, in today's meeting, Bangladesh's foreign minister was also present. Notably, the ties betwee te two beighbouring nations hit a roadblock after a virtual press interaction by former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi on August 5, the second anniversary of her ouster after a student-led uprising in 2024. Dhaka had also conveyed their concerns to India over Hasina's address. In connection with the BRICS Summit, India has extended a special invitation to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh—in his capacity as the current Chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)—to participate in the summit's outreach session. India will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12–13. The summit will focus on global cooperation, trade, and sustainable development. Hasina, on August 5, in a virtual address, rejected the narrative surrounding the protests, saying her government had repeatedly attempted to resolve the crisis through dialogue. She claimed that she had personally reached out to the protesting students and invited their representatives to the Prime Minister's residence for discussions. "July and August 2024 were not a peaceful student movement from the very beginning. We tried to resolve the situation through dialogue and a peaceful process," Hasina said. Her virtual address was hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) of South Asia in New Delhi. Following Sheikh Hasina's media address, Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strongly worded statement... In a statement issued late at night on August 5, the ministry said that India allowing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to openly speak to the media from Delhi is deeply hurtful to Bangladeshis and harms the development of cordial relations between India and Bangladesh. Meanwhile, India had distanced itself from Hasina's address. "The interaction you refer to is being organised by a private media entity. The government has no involvement whatsoever in it, neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed at the forum," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said on a day ahead of Hasina's address.
