Sheikh Hasina’s return to Bangladesh remained a matter for legal channels, India said on Friday, as New Delhi declined to comment on a BBC Bangla report claiming that it had set two conditions for facilitating the former prime minister’s possible return. Speaking at a biweekly briefing, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs also reiterated that India wants a positive, constructive and forward-looking relationship with Bangladesh.
What the BBC Bangla Report Claimed
The BBC Bangla report, published on Thursday, said Indian officials had indicated that Bangladesh must arrange Hasina’s return through its military. As The Daily Star summarised it, Hasina arrived in India aboard a Bangladesh military aircraft on August 5, 2024, so the Bangladesh Army would have to take her back, either by sending an aircraft to Delhi or by receiving her at a designated point along the land border. The report added that India is prepared to make the necessary logistical arrangements. Other outlets reported that the return had been described as possible in December this year.
The second reported condition is that Bangladesh must guarantee Hasina an opportunity to appeal against her death sentence and ensure a fresh trial over the killings during the July uprising. Hasina fled to India amid the youth-led mass uprising and has lived there since. She was sentenced to death in November 2025 for crimes against humanity committed during the uprising.
India Draws a Line Between Extradition and Return
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, was asked about the reported conditions and about Hasina’s possible plans. He said that when India refers to the issue as a legal matter, it is speaking only about the extradition aspect, and that this would be handled accordingly. On the other parts of the question, he said he had no comment. He also declined to comment on reports that India wanted Bangladesh to send a military aircraft or that Hasina should be given a chance to present her position and receive a fair trial.
The distinction matters because India has described the issue as a legal one on several occasions. In October, India’s High Commissioner in Dhaka, Dinesh Trivedi, said no one could give a time frame for Hasina’s return because Dhaka’s extradition request was being examined through a legal process, according to Indian media reports.
Dhaka Says It Has Received No Communication
In Dhaka, a foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Star that Bangladesh had received no communication from India about the reported conditions. The official said Dhaka was not aware whether the Indian side had made any such request at the political level, and that diplomats had not been involved in discussions when Hasina left Bangladesh in 2024.
According to the same report, Bangladesh has formally sought Hasina’s extradition twice, first through a note verbale in December 2024 and again after the death sentence was handed down in November 2025. The foreign minister also raised the matter at a bilateral meeting last April, the official said, adding that India had not responded to the extradition requests.
Diplomatic Strain and the Consular Dialogue
The issue has weighed on bilateral ties. Diplomatic sources in New Delhi told The Daily Star that Hasina’s continued presence in India had become an obstacle to the country’s neighbourhood first policy, and that the delay in improving relations had drawn domestic criticism.
One diplomat, speaking anonymously, said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had yet to visit India nearly a year into his tenure, and that a visit would depend on a conducive environment and the fulfilment of certain preconditions. The same diplomat said India could not keep Hasina indefinitely and that she had been advised to use back channels to negotiate the best possible arrangement for her return. These remarks were made anonymously and have not been confirmed on the record by the Indian government.
On the postponement of the Bangladesh-India consular dialogue, Mr Jaiswal said the next round would take place on a mutually convenient date and would also cover revised travel arrangements. He said India remains ready to discuss all bilateral issues with Bangladesh through existing mechanisms, including at the technical level, and noted that meetings had been held on trade, railways and water resources, among other subjects.
Sheikh Hasinas Return: What Comes Next
For now, the two governments appear to be speaking past one another. India insists the extradition question will follow legal procedure and has avoided confirming or denying the conditions attributed to it, while Dhaka says it has seen no formal word on them. Until one side clarifies its position, the prospect of Sheikh Hasina’s return will remain uncertain, and the wider effort to rebuild trust between Dhaka and New Delhi is likely to depend on how both sides handle this sensitive question.
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