Bangladesh and Indian officials have resumed talks to firm up plans for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to New Delhi, with diplomatic sources saying efforts are underway to schedule the trip during a suitable window in November.

Officials from the two countries have continued meetings in Dhaka and are working on an agenda that could include the regularisation of bilateral trade and the renewal of the Ganga Water Treaty.

The influential Indian media outlet ‘The Hindu’ has confirmed this information in a report today.

Bilateral relations came under strain following a virtual press conference by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August, which triggered backlash in Bangladesh. Hasina is currently living at an undisclosed location in India, according to the report.

Sources in Dhaka said Rahman is scheduled to travel to New York this month to attend the United Nations General Assembly, after which he will have several diplomatic engagements during October and November. Efforts are now being made to find a suitable time for his New Delhi visit in November.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi has held meetings with several Bangladeshi officials in recent days, including Water Resources Minister Mohammed Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee and Prime Minister’s Adviser for the Ministry of Education Mahdi Amin.

Rahman had been invited to attend the recently held BRICS Summit in his capacity as head of BIMSTEC, but Bangladesh did not send a representative to the event. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kobir said Bangladesh was planning to “reset” relations with India and would prioritise a bilateral visit at a “conducive” time.

The report said the BNP government had earlier viewed the cancellation of a programme by supporters of Hasina’s Awami League as a “positive sign”.

Hasina has been based in India since leaving Dhaka on August 5, 2024. Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had expressed “outrage” over her latest virtual press conference, during which she alleged that law and order had broken down in Bangladesh.

The report also said Rahman maintained contact with India during his years in exile in London. According to sources in Dhaka, his personal contacts with Indian officials were renewed at least from February 2024, when he sent an emissary to India to gauge New Delhi’s position following the January 2024 election, which was boycotted by the BNP under his leadership.

Two months before that election, current Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku visited New Delhi and urged India to extend “unambiguous support to the democratic aspirations” of the people of Bangladesh, according to an interview with The Hindu.

In 2018, a three-member BNP team comprising Abdul Awal Mintoo, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Humayun Kabir also visited New Delhi for engagement with the Indian government. The Daily Star had reported that the visit followed Rahman’s instruction to his party to carry out a course correction, describing its previous policy towards India as “hostile” and “wrong and misguided”.

Source: The Hindu