New Delhi: Indian envoy to Dhaka, Dinesh Trivedi, met Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman Monday—the first meeting between the two amid fresh tensions over ousted PM Sheikh Hasina’s ‘homecoming’ speech in New Delhi last week.
It was earlier reported by local media in Bangladesh that Rahman was unlikely to attend the BRICS summit in September in India because of these concerns. Now, the meeting between the Indian High Commissioner and the PM is expected to smooth out the strains ahead of the summit.
“The High Commissioner conveyed greetings from Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and the intent to work together with the Government and the people of Bangladesh in a positive, constructive and forward-looking manner,” the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a statement.
“They exchanged views on matters of mutual interest and discussed avenues for further strengthening bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh with a people-centric approach.”
High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi paid a courtesy call on Hon'ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh, H.E. Tarique Rahman on 10 August 2026.
High Commissioner conveyed greetings from Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and the intent to work together with the Government and the people of… pic.twitter.com/hkTmUYb1Bs
— India in Bangladesh (@ihcdhaka) August 10, 2026
Meanwhile, a post on the X account of the Bangladesh High Commission in India read, “The half an hr discussion is expected to go distance in cementing | advancing India-Bangladesh ties and engagements.”
High Commissioner of #India, @DinTri (HE Dinesh Trivedi) paid maiden courtesy Call to Hon. Prime Minister of #Bangladesh, HE Tarique Rahman (@trahmanbnp), in Dhaka, this morning.
The half an hr discussion is expected to go distance in cementing | advancing 🇧🇩 🇮🇳 ties |… pic.twitter.com/aPp6CVU6WI
— Bangladesh High Commission, New Delhi (@bdhc_delhi) August 10, 2026
On Sunday, Trivedi had met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman and called PM Tarique Rahman a “people’s person like PM Modi”.
It was a closed-door meeting, but Trivedi, later at an interaction with the press, said,“I feel that when the two leaders meet, many problems are resolved. Problems are solved when we talk to each other. I firmly believe that the people are one. There will be a solution. There is nothing negative here. Everything is positive”.
He added: “We all have great respect for Bangladesh’s prime minister. I have heard his speeches many times. He is a people-friendly person. Our prime minister is also a people-friendly person”.
The appointment of Trivedi, a former Union minister and BJP leader, earlier this year marked a rare political appointment to a major diplomatic envoy post by the Indian government, for the first time.
PM Modi had invited Rahman, in his capacity as the current chairman of BIMSTEC, to attend the session to be held on 12-13 September. The invitation was conveyed in a diplomatic letter to Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on 14 July.
After Hasina’s media event in Delhi, Bangladesh Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed had said that India “cannot play the Hasina card and seek friendly relations with Bangladesh; the two are contradictory”.
Hasina had virtually addressed media persons at New Delhi’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club last week, claiming that law and order in Bangladesh had vanished, that its economy was in ruins, and that her homecoming in December would be “a duty” to the citizens of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh government, in a terse statement, had criticised India for allowing her to make comments, calling it “deeply hurtful to people’s sentiment and detrimental to the development of harmonious bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India”.
“Bangladesh is outraged that the absconding convicted genocider Sheikh Hasina was allowed this evening to engage in live interaction with the media in New Delhi where she and her henchmen launched venomous vitriol against the State of Bangladesh and her people,” the statement read.
Prior to the event, the Ministry of External Affairs had clarified that Hasina’s second such virtual interaction had “no involvement of the Indian government”.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also Read: Two days after Modi-Vance call, Indian envoy to US defends FCRA Bill with a ‘reality check’