Bangladesh media urges Dhaka to pursue Sheikh Hasina’s extradition while avoiding making it a condition for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s India visit, stressing strategic diplomacy and broader bilateral engagement.
Bangladesh should continue firmly pursuing the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India but should not make the demand a precondition for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s proposed visit to New Delhi, a leading Bangladeshi newspaper has argued.
In an editorial published on Monday, Bengali daily Prothom Alo said Dhaka’s demand for Hasina’s extradition remains an important issue linked to judicial accountability and the rule of law. However, it cautioned that adopting a rigid “no extradition, no visit” approach could restrict Bangladesh’s own diplomatic options and make it harder to advance other national interests.
The newspaper argued that a more strategic approach would be to retain the extradition demand while using a high-level visit as an opportunity to discuss the issue alongside wider bilateral concerns.
According to the editorial, Bangladesh could make the extradition issue a central part of discussions during Tarique Rahman’s India visit without treating the trip itself as a concession to New Delhi. Instead, the visit could be used as a diplomatic instrument to communicate Dhaka’s priorities, negotiate outstanding issues and strengthen channels of political engagement.
India and Bangladesh have an extradition treaty dating back to 2013. Dhaka has formally requested New Delhi to extradite Hasina, who left Bangladesh for India in August 2024 following widespread student-led protests. India has acknowledged receiving the request and said the matter is being examined under its legal framework.
The issue has gained additional significance after the Bangladesh government reportedly held back Tarique Rahman’s maiden visit to India since taking office, linking the proposed trip to Dhaka’s demand for Hasina’s extradition.
The Prothom Alo editorial, however, maintained that keeping the extradition demand intact and making it a prerequisite for every aspect of bilateral relations are two different approaches.
“There is no reason for Bangladesh to back down from this claim,” the newspaper said, stressing that the issue is connected with judicial accountability, the rule of law and respect for Bangladesh’s judicial process.
At the same time, it argued that diplomacy requires assessing which strategy is most likely to achieve a country’s objectives. According to the editorial, standing firm on an issue does not necessarily mean closing off opportunities for dialogue.
The article also referred to recent remarks by Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who said India-Bangladesh relations could function when they pass the “test of mutual interest”. The editorial suggested that identifying areas of common interest could help both sides maintain engagement even while disagreements remain unresolved.
The newspaper cited historical examples to underline the role of high-level diplomatic engagement during periods of disagreement. It referred to former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to Lahore in 1999, which resulted in the Lahore Declaration and created a framework for dialogue and confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan.
Although the subsequent Kargil conflict disrupted the diplomatic process, the example demonstrated that dialogue and dispute resolution do not necessarily have to occur simultaneously, the article noted.
It also referred to then-US President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China. Despite unresolved differences, including the Taiwan issue, the visit helped open channels of communication between Washington and Beijing and contributed to the eventual normalisation of relations.
Drawing on these examples, the editorial argued that unresolved disputes should not automatically prevent high-level political communication.
“High-level political communication is often the most needed when faced with unresolved conflicts,” it maintained, adding that diplomacy is not always about securing an immediate settlement. It can also help break deadlocks, create space for negotiations and place a country’s interests at the centre of discussions.
For Bangladesh, the newspaper said, Hasina’s extradition should remain an important component of the bilateral agenda. However, it warned against allowing the issue to overshadow other long-term interests shared by the two neighbouring countries.
Water-sharing arrangements, trade, energy cooperation, connectivity and border management are among the major areas that require continued engagement between Dhaka and New Delhi.
The editorial therefore concluded that Bangladesh can remain firm on its demand for Hasina’s extradition while simultaneously pursuing broader diplomatic engagement with India.
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The central argument is that the extradition demand and bilateral dialogue need not be mutually exclusive. Rather than making the former a condition for every high-level interaction, Dhaka could use such engagements to press its case while also addressing the wider interests that shape India-Bangladesh relations.
The approach, according to the newspaper, would allow Bangladesh to preserve its position on Hasina’s extradition without unnecessarily narrowing the diplomatic channels available to pursue that objective.
