No timeline for Sheikh Hasina's return to Bangladesh: Indian envoy in Dhaka

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi said Saturday that there was no timeline for deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s return to Bangladesh, as Dhaka's extradition request is being examined through a legal process.

"Nobody can give you a time frame (over Hasina's return)," Trivedi said at the Bay of Bengal Conversation 2026 in Dhaka, responding to questions about Bangladesh's repeated requests for her extradition.

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

Hasina has been living in India since fleeing Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, after a Jamaat-backed mass uprising toppled her government.

Trivedi also said Hasina had not been brought to India by the Indian Air Force or Army.

A Bangladesh Air Force aircraft carried Hasina to India on August 5 as protesters moved towards her official residence. The Bangladesh Army-led security detail escorted her from the residence as the protests, which began over a government job-quota system, widened into a broader anti-government movement.

"At that point in time, she (Hasina) was still the prime minister of Bangladesh. We had hardly any choice on that," Trivedi said. "It was our duty as a neighbour to accept the reality of life, because situations are such where at times you are not prepared for it."

"What was our choice? If you would have said that no, we are not going to accept, we don't give landing permission. Things would have been I don't know what," he said.

Trivedi described the circumstances that led to Hasina’s departure as "tragic" and said such circumstances should never be repeated anywhere in the world.

Extradition demand strains ties

Hasina's government was replaced by an interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus on August 8, 2024. India-Bangladesh relations deteriorated during the interim government, with Hasina's extradition demand, concerns over attacks on minorities, and Dhaka's deeper engagement with China becoming sources of tension.

In 2025, Hasina was tried in absentia by a special tribunal and sentenced to death. The interim government also disbanded her Awami League party and formally sought her extradition through a diplomatic note.

After taking office following the February 12 elections, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's BNP government endorsed the ban on Hasina's party and repeatedly renewed the extradition demand.

Hasina says she will return

The extradition issue has also affected Rahman's proposed visit to New Delhi.

India invited Rahman to the BRICS Summit held last month, while a separate bilateral invitation had been in place since February. Rahman did not attend the summit or visit New Delhi after taking office.

Bangladesh has said it remains "positive" about progress in discussions on Rahman's proposed India visit, but no date has been fixed.

Tensions rose further after Hasina addressed a virtual press conference from New Delhi on August 5. It was her first public media interaction since fleeing Bangladesh.

Hasina said she was determined to return home in December and was not deterred by the possibility of imprisonment or a death sentence.

Bangladesh's foreign ministry later said the process for Rahman's proposed visit to India had been "vitiated" by Hasina's virtual interaction. India said it had no role in the event and did not endorse statements made about the Bangladesh government.

(With inputs from PTI)