Dhaka: India cannot give a timeframe for deposed Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s return as Dhaka’s extradition request is being examined through a legal process, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi said on Saturday. Hasina, 79, has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, after her government was toppled amid a mass anti-government movement.
“Nobody can give you a time frame” for Hasina’s return, Trivedi said during a discussion organised by a private think tank in Dhaka, in response to questions about Bangladesh’s repeated requests for her extradition.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has maintained that Bangladesh’s extradition request is being examined in accordance with established procedures.
He also clarified that Hasina was not brought to India by the Indian Air Force or the Army.
Hasina's arrival in India
A Bangladesh Air Force aircraft carried Hasina to India on August 5, 2024, as protesters moved towards her official residence. She was escorted from the residence by a Bangladesh Army-led security detachment before leaving the country.
At the time, Hasina was still Bangladesh’s prime minister.
“We had hardly any choice in that. It was our duty as a neighbour to accept the reality of life, because situations are such that at times you are not prepared for it,” Trivedi said. He highlighted that there was no other choice.
Trivedi described the circumstances surrounding Hasina’s departure as “tragic” and said such situations should never be repeated anywhere in the world.
The extradition dispute centres on former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in India since fleeing Dhaka on August 5, 2024, after her government was toppled amid mass anti-government protests.
In 2025, Hasina was tried in absentia by a special tribunal in Bangladesh and sentenced to death. The interim government that followed her ouster also disbanded her Awami League party and formally sought her extradition from India through a diplomatic note.
Hasina's virtual address
Tensions increased after Hasina addressed a virtual press conference from New Delhi on August 5, marking her first public media interaction since fleeing Bangladesh.
Hasina said she remained determined to return to Bangladesh in December despite the possibility of imprisonment or a death sentence.
“I know, they may put me in jail or kill me,” she said, adding, “I will go back home to be with my people.”
Bangladesh's foreign ministry later said the process surrounding Rahman's proposed visit to India had been “vitiated” by Hasina's virtual appearance.
India, however, maintained that it had no role in organising the media event and did not endorse statements made there concerning the Bangladesh government.
Bangladesh Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said Hasina would be arrested immediately if she returned and that there would be no scope for her to surrender.
He has also said the court verdict against her would be enforced according to law.
(With agency inputs from PTI)
