New Delhi: Hours after she resigned as prime minister and fled Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina met India’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval at the Hindon Air Base in India Monday evening, according to sources. She also met Additional NSA Rajinder Khanna and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, they said.
Sources said the former prime minister wanted promises from New Delhi that it will keep trade and business links with Bangladesh intact and continue discussions with the new interim government. The tone of the meeting was “cordial” and Hasina was “emotional”, said a source. She is expected to stay in India for a day or two and is likely to head to London as her final destination.
Government sources earlier told ThePrint that Hasina reached out to New Delhi seeking safe passage into the Indian airspace, a request that was promptly accepted.
On Monday, Hasina fled her country on a military helicopter amid mounting political pressure over nearly two months of deadly anti-government protests. She was first flown to an army air base in Bangladesh where she boarded a military transport aircraft. Hours later, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman officially announced Hasina’s resignation in an address to the nation, adding that an interim government would be formed.
“The honourable prime minister has resigned, and we will form an interim government to do our work. Please have patience, give us some time,” General Waker-uz-Zaman said in the televised speech.
He added that the decision to form an interim government was made after consultations with the leadership of the country’s “main political parties”. Before his address, the army chief held extended talks with political parties from the opposition, namely the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami. No representatives from the Awami League, Hasina’s party, were present.
Shortly before the army chief’s addressed, Bangladeshi protesters stormed the prime minister’s residence in Dhaka with Bangladeshi TV channels televising angry protesters stealing sarees, crockery, furniture, pillows, utensils and decor; lying in the prime minister’s bed; and freely roaming through the halls of the prestigious building.
In the past, Hasina sought exile in India. After the 1975 assassination of her father and Bangladesh’s founder, Sheikh Mujibur “Bongobondhu” Rahman, Hasina and her children took refuge in India for six years before returning to Bangladesh.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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