NEW DELHI — India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi has held meetings with senior officials in Dhaka as New Delhi and the government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman seek to repair relations, but there was no verified report on Thursday that Trivedi had met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Trivedi, a veteran politician and former federal minister, took charge as India’s high commissioner in June, replacing career diplomat Pranay Verma. His appointment was a departure from India’s usual practice of sending Indian Foreign Service officers to head the mission and came as the two neighbours worked to ease tensions that had deepened after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India in 2024.
On July 29, Trivedi met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaid Islam in Dhaka. Trivedi said India was looking forward to welcoming Rahman to New Delhi and hoped the visit would take place soon.
Bangladesh is considering an invitation from Modi for Rahman to attend the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi on Sept. 12-13 as a special guest. Bangladesh's foreign minister said after meeting Trivedi that Dhaka was reviewing the invitation alongside the prime minister's other international commitments.
Rahman has also raised sensitive issues in discussions with Indian officials. On Aug. 10, he met Trivedi and raised Dhaka's request for India to extradite Hasina, who remains in India. Bangladesh has repeatedly sought her return to face legal proceedings, while the issue remains a major point of tension between the two countries.
Bangladesh's foreign minister has acknowledged that "irritations" remain in bilateral ties, while saying the two countries need to address them and move relations forward on the basis of mutual interests and sovereign equality.
Trivedi has publicly described his meetings with Bangladeshi officials as positive and said outstanding issues could be addressed through mutual understanding. His appointment has been presented by Indian officials and analysts as part of efforts to restore political engagement with Dhaka.
As of Thursday, the most recently verified high-level engagement involving Trivedi was his diplomatic work in Dhaka; reports reviewed did not confirm a meeting between him and Modi in New Delhi.
