Overview
- Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina used an audio-only press event in New Delhi on Wednesday to say she will return to Bangladesh in December despite a death sentence and other convictions in absentia.
- Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “outraged” by the event, called it an affront to sovereignty, and said repeated extradition requests under the 2013 treaty to India have not yet received a response.
- India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the briefing was privately organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia and that the Indian government had no involvement or endorsement of the event.
- Supporters of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman publicly challenged Hasina’s December timetable and urged her to return immediately to face Bangladeshi courts and authorities.
- Analysts say Hasina’s re-emergence sharpens domestic political polarisation, raises the risk of renewed mobilisation or unrest inside Bangladesh, and poses a diplomatic test for New Delhi given its strategic ties and security interests in the country.