Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invited Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to visit India.
Tarique Rahman took oath as the prime minister on Tuesday, four days after his Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the national election. The polls were the first since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024.
The invitation from Modi was handed over to Tarique Rahman by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who represented India at the swearing-in ceremony in Dhaka.
In the letter, Modi congratulated the BNP chief for winning the election.
“Your victory is a testimony to the trust and confidence reposed by the people of Bangladesh in your leadership and their mandate for your vision to take the country forward on the path of peace, stability and prosperity,” Modi said.
The Indian prime minister said that India and Bangladesh have a “deep-rooted friendship founded on shared history, cultural ties”, and that the “strong convergence between our respective developmental priorities shall serve as a guiding principle for future cooperation”.
India and Bangladesh can become catalysts for each other’s sustainable growth, and work for each other’s security and enable mutual prosperity, Modi told Rahman.
Tarique Rahman is the son of former President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who died on December 30.
Relations between India and Bangladesh had seen periods of frostiness during the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s previous government from 2001 to 2006. The party was earlier widely viewed as having an anti-India stance.
Also read: A reminder: BNP coming to power in Bangladesh was once the worst-case scenario for Delhi
Indian foreign secretary meets Bangladeshi Opposition leader
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Tuesday met Bangladeshi Leader of Opposition Shafiqur Rahman, who heads the Jamaat-e-Islami.
The Indian High Commission said it was a courtesy meeting that took place on the sidelines of Tarique Rahman’s swearing-in ceremony.
Misri reaffirmed India’s “enduring support to Bangladesh, underscoring the people-centric nature of the ties”, the High Commission said.
During the meeting, Shafiqur Rahman highlighted the “deep civilisational bonds shared by the two countries and expressed hope for stronger bilateral relations”, it added.
New Delhi-Dhaka thaw?
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party had invited Modi, along with the heads of government of 12 countries, to Rahman’s swearing-in ceremony. However, Birla and Misri represented India as Modi had meetings scheduled with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai.
India’s participation at the ceremony came amid strained ties between New Delhi and Dhaka after Hasina had fled to India in August 2024 after several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government.
Bangladesh has repeatedly demanded that India extradite Hasina after a tribunal in that country sentenced her to death for alleged crimes against humanity. Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal held Hasina guilty of having ordered a deadly crackdown on the protests against her government.
In December, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it was for Hasina to decide whether she wanted to return to Bangladesh.
Relations between India and Bangladesh further strained in recent months amid unrest following the death of student leader Sharif Osman Bin Hadi on December 18. Hadi had been a prominent figure in the 2024 protests that led to the ouster of the Hasina government.
His death triggered protests, vandalism and attacks in Bangladesh. Several attacks on minority communities had also been reported in Bangladesh, which led to demonstrations in India.
However, Modi was among the first global leaders to congratulate Rahman on his party’s victory. In a social media post, he “reaffirmed India’s continued commitment to the peace, progress and prosperity of both our peoples”.
In response, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday said it was looking forward to “engaging constructively” with New Delhi to advance the bilateral relationship.
Read Scroll’s ground reports from Bangladesh here.
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