India cannot give deadline on Hasina's extradition, envoy tells Dhaka forum

India “cannot give any deadline” for the extradition of ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Dinesh Trivedi said on Saturday, insisting the request is under examination through a legal process.

“Nobody can give you a timeframe (over Hasina’s return),” Trivedi said at a discussion organised by a private think tank in Dhaka, responding to questions about Dhaka’s repeated extradition requests.

“Again and again, the government of India has replied to this that there is a process, and it is legal, and it is well structured,” he added.

The remarks, made during the fifth edition of the Bay of Bengal Conversation 2026, are Trivedi’s first explicit comments on the issue; he had previously declined to discuss matters involving “politics”. Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman gave the opening remarks at the event but was not present when Trivedi spoke.

Trivedi also said Hasina had not been brought to India by the Indian Air Force or Army, and described the episode as one of “tragic circumstances” in Bangladesh that should never be repeated anywhere.

Hasina, 79, has been living in India since fleeing Dhaka on August 5, 2024, when a Bangladesh Air Force aircraft carried her to India as anti-government protests toppled her government. An interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus took office on August 8, 2024, and a special tribunal later sentenced her to death in absentia.

After the Awami League was barred from the February elections, Tarique Rahman’s BNP government renewed Dhaka’s demand for her return, and the extradition issue has become a major strain on India-Bangladesh ties — clouding even Rahman’s proposed visit to New Delhi.

Sources

• Millennium Post — https://www.millenniumpost.in/world/india-cannot-give-deadline-on-hasinas-extradition-to-bangladesh-says-envoy-678404