Bangladesh on Sunday urged India to act expeditiously on its request and help create a ‘conducive atmosphere’ for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to make a bilateral visit to India.

“We are of the view that a propitious environment needs to be created for the visit,” said A.K.M. Shahidul Karim , spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

He said officials of Bangladesh and India have been in touch with each other for several weeks on the possibility of a bilateral visit by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to India.

However, the Spokesperson said, this process was vitiated by the open press interaction in New Delhi on 5th August by Sheikh Hasina who has been convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal for committing crimes against humanity.

“We have made our position clear on this matter,” he said.

To this end, Bangladesh requested the Indian authorities to expeditiously act on its request to extradite Sheikh Hasina and other fugitive criminals, and to hand over to Bangladesh the accused killers of Shaheed Sharif Osman Hadi in compliance with their bilateral extradition treaty.

“We are awaiting their response,” said the Spokesperson.

Bangladesh reiterated that they will continue to pursue their “Bangladesh First” policy to promote friendly bilateral relations with other countries, including their neighbours, on the basis of sovereign equality, national dignity, non-interference in each