In Dhaka for Khaleda Zia’s funeral, Jaishankar meets Tarique Rahman and Pakistan Assembly speaker

Jaishankar’s visit to Dhaka was his first since ouster of former PM Hasina in August 2024. Ties between India, Bangladesh have been tense following assassination of Sharif Osman Hadi.

In Dhaka for Khaleda Zia’s funeral, Jaishankar meets Tarique Rahman and Pakistan Assembly speaker | Ministry of External Affairs

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman, son of former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia and handed over a personal letter of condolences by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the death of his mother.

Jaishankar had travelled to Dhaka to attend the state funeral of Zia, Bangladesh’s first woman Prime Minister.

“On arrival in Dhaka, met with Mr Tarique Rahman @trahmanbnp, Acting Chairman of BNP and son of former PM of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia.  Handed over to him a personal letter from Prime Minister @narendramodi,” Jaishankar said in a statement on the social media platform X. 

He further added: “Conveyed deepest condolences on behalf of the Government and people of India. Expressed confidence that Begum Khaleda Zia’s vision and values will guide the development of our partnership.”

In Dhaka for Khaleda Zia’s funeral, Jaishankar meets Tarique Rahman and Pakistan Assembly speaker | Ministry of External Affairs

Jaishankar had travelled to Dhaka to attend the state funeral of Zia, Bangladesh’s first woman Prime Minister.

Jaishankar discussed the future of ties between the two countries based on “shared interests, driven by pragmatism and mutual interdependence,” with Rahman, according to Riaz Hamidullah, Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to India.

Jaishankar also met with his Bangladesh counterpart Touhid Hossain, as well as Law Adviser Asif Nazrul and Dhaka’s National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman. Nazrul and Rahman were present in the meeting between Jaishankar and members of Zia’s family, the first interaction between the two sides since the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina government.

Zia, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh passed away at the age of 80 Tuesday at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka following a prolonged illness. Jaishankar’s visit to Dhaka is his first since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Ties between India and Bangladesh have remained tense, particularly in the last few weeks following the death of political aspirant Sharif Osman Hadi.

Students, who led the uprising against Hasina, who have been protesting in front of Indian missions in Bangladesh, accused India of harbouring the ousted prime minister, and alleged New Delhi was actively interfering in Bangladesh’s political transition.

Jaishankar’s courtesy handshake and conversation with the Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly also comes amidst heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad. India and Pakistan engaged in an 87-hour conflict in May this year. India launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May, striking nine terrorist complexes following the terror attack at Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on 22 April that left 26 people dead.

The Chief Adviser of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus posted the photos of the meeting between Jaishankar and Sadiq on his official X account.

https://twitter.com/ChiefAdviserGoB/status/2006319090089210170?s=20

A person familiar with the matter informed ThePrint that the two likely ran into each other at the funeral, and courtesies were exchanged. Sadiq was one of the six foreign leaders that attended Zia’s funeral. The other leaders present were D.N. Dhungyel, the foreign minister of Bhutan, Lt. General Bala Nanda Sharma (Retd.), the foreign minister of Nepal, Vijitha Herath, the foreign minister of Sri Lanka and Ali Haidar Ahmed, Maldives’ minister of higher education, labour and skill development.

Jaishankar met with Dhungyel and Sharma. The Indian External Affairs Minister was in Dhaka for roughly four hours, landing forenoon and leaving by around 5 P.M.

(Edited by Vidhi Bhutra)