New Delhi: India Friday said that the Bangladesh government’s request for extraditing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is being examined as part of ongoing judicial and legal processes.
Hasina, 78, has been living in India after she fled Dhaka following the collapse of her government in August, 2024 in the face of a massive anti-government agitation.
In his recent visit to New Delhi, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, during his talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, had raised the issue of Dhaka’s request to extradite Hasina.
“The request is being examined as part of ongoing judicial and internal legal processes. We will continue to engage constructively on the issue with all stakeholders,” Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
The previous government led by Muhammad Yunus had requested India to extradite her as she was convicted of “crimes against humanity” for the brutal crackdown on the student-led protests.
Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were handed the death penalty by the International Crimes Tribunal, a domestic war crimes court, last year after convicting them of crimes against humanity during the crackdown on the anti-government protests in 2024.
To a question on a law passed by Bangladesh’s Parliament this month that is likely to provide a legal backing to the ban imposed on Hasina-led Awami League party by Bangladesh’s interim government, Jaiswal did not give a direct reply “We follow all developments very closely,” he said.
Jaiswal, on the overall ties between the two countries, said New Delhi wants to engage constructively with Dhaka.
“I would also like to emphasise that the external affairs minister reiterated India’s desire to engage constructively with the new government (in Dhaka) and further strengthen bilateral ties,” he said.
The relations between India and Bangladesh came under strain after the interim government came to power following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government in August, 2024.
The two sides initiated efforts to stabilise the relations after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, represented India at the inauguration of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Tarique Rahman as the prime minister in Dhaka on February 17.
Rahman became the prime minister following his party’s landslide victory in the parliamentary polls.
PTI
