A DAY after meeting Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and sought his “guidance” for an “enduring” bilateral ties between Delhi and Dhaka.
“High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi called on Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today and sought his guidance on further strengthening the multifaceted and enduring bilateral relationship between India and Bangladesh in a constructive manner with a people-centric approach,” the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh posted on X.
Five days after ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s remarks in India angered Dhaka, Bangladesh PM Rahman had raised the issue of her extradition with Trivedi on Monday and had underlined the need to “create a conducive environment to further advance the bilateral relations between the two countries”.
On Sunday, Trivedi had described Rahman and Modi as people’s persons and expressed optimism that solutions to issues between the two countries could be found if the two leaders meet.
“We all respect him (Rahman) a lot. He speaks from his heart. I listened to his speeches many times…. He is a people’s person, our Prime Minister (Modi) too. I think when two leaders meet, a lot of problems are sorted out. I have full confidence,” he had told reporters. This invoking the persona of the two leaders is key, since Rahman is yet to visit India. He has already visited China and met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
After meeting Rahman, Trivedi had described the meeting as “fruitful”, and that Bangladesh and India not only share a border but also share dreams.
“We are looking forward. Our invitation is there in place. We are positive that if the two leaders meet together, there will be discussion. There will be issues in democracies. It’s not democracy if there is no issue. But there is only one people’s issue, which is good relations. It’s a win-win situation if there is a good relationship,” he said, referring to India’s invitation to Rahman to attend the BRICS leaders’ outreach summit in September.
On the meeting dynamics, Trivedi said, “I am not a diplomat. It’s like people’s representative-to-people’s representative. I am very delighted that we have met. I didn’t feel that I met him for the first time. Very good, very humble, on the ground, what will be the discussion – people-to-people relations.”
He said there is no issue that cannot be solved. “I can tell you this confidently.”
Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More
