Sheikh Hasina Plan Return Bangladesh Dhaka India Extradition Push

India has said there is no change in its position regarding former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s reported plans to return to Dhaka. The Ministry of External Affairs said that any request for her extradition would be dealt with as a legal matter.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to questions on the issue, said, “There is no change in our approach to the matter. Any extradition matter is a legal issue, and it will be dealt with accordingly.”

This comes days after sources close to 78-year-old Awami League leader, Hasina said that she is preparing to return to Bangladesh in an attempt to revive her party after nearly two years in exile.

Bangladesh’s interim government on Tuesday welcomed reports of Hasina’s planned return, saying she should face justice for her conviction by a special tribunal.

“We welcome her announcement as we want to ensure justice,” Bangladesh Prime Minister’s adviser for information and strategy Zahed Ur Rahman told reporters.

Rahman said the “people of the country want her death penalty to be upheld for the crimes she committed, and in that case, her capital punishment will be executed as the people want to see that”. “Let her bring the best lawyers in the world,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

Hasina has been living in exile in India since August 2024 after fleeing Dhaka following the collapse of her government amid a massive student-led uprising.

Last November, a special tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced her to death in absentia for alleged crimes against humanity linked to her government’s crackdown on protesters during the 2024 unrest. Since then, Bangladesh has repeatedly sought her extradition from India.

Hasina has rejected the charges and the conviction, describing them as politically motivated.

Relations between New Delhi and Dhaka deteriorated after the fall of Hasina’s government and the emergence of the new political government in Bangladesh.

India was represented at the swearing-in of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in February by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, while Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman visited New Delhi in April in the first high-level visit by a senior member of the new BNP-led government.

According to reports by news agency PTI, Hasina is likely to return to Bangladesh by the end of this year.