India said on Friday that Bangladesh’s request to extradite ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is under consideration in light of the legal and judicial procedures involved.
Hasina has been living in self-imposed exile in India since fleeing Bangladesh after the sudden collapse of her government in the face of student-led protests in August 2024. Her extradition was first requested by the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus, and the request was repeated by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government led by Prime Minister Tariq Rahman.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal responded to a question at a press conference regarding Bangladesh’s extradition request for Hasina and other people by saying: “We have received an extradition request. This request, as we said earlier also, is under consideration.”
He added: “The request is being taken into consideration, given the legal aspects… and the judicial procedures involved.”
Hasina’s presence in India has remained an irritant for bilateral relations, which improved somewhat after the Tariq Rahman government came to power earlier this year. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla represented India at Rahman’s inauguration in February, which was followed by Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman’s visit to New Delhi in April.
However, Dhaka has been angered by the interviews Hasina gave while in self-imposed exile, including a recent interview in which she announced her plan to return to Bangladesh, where she faces death sentence, next December. The Bangladeshi authorities also directed the media not to publish Hasina’s statements after her recent interview.
