New Delhi, India – The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has clarified that the Indian government has no involvement in the press conference to be addressed by deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) on Wednesday. MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that the event is being organized by a “private media entity” and that the government neither has any role nor endorses any views expressed at the forum. The clarification comes a day after Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Foreign Affairs Adviser warned that Hasina’s continued political activities on Indian territory could harm bilateral ties.
On Monday, Humayun Kobir, Foreign Affairs Adviser to Tarique Rahman, met Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi in Dhaka and cautioned that such activities could “harm positive progress of bilateral relations.” The press conference is expected to see Hasina announce her plans to return to Bangladesh, a move that has been met with skepticism by the current BNP-led government. Hasina, who has been based in India since fleeing Dhaka in August 2024, faces a death sentence in Bangladesh from the International Crimes Tribunal, and her Awami League party has been formally banned through an amendment to an anti-terrorism law.
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The diplomatic tensions have been further complicated by Bangladesh’s response to India’s invitation for the BRICS summit. While India has extended an invitation to Rahman in his capacity as the current Chair of BIMSTEC, diplomatic sources in Dhaka indicated that Bangladesh has not appreciated the nature of the invitation, preferring one addressed to him as Prime Minister. Jaiswal, however, clarified that Rahman already has a separate bilateral invitation to India in his prime ministerial capacity. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Press Information Department has urged its media not to provide a platform for Hasina’s remarks, warning that the situation has “snowballed” into a tense diplomatic standoff.
