In an important development, the Narendra Modi government has decided to send former Union Minister and Barrackpore MP, and now BJP leader, Dinesh Trivedi, as High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh. As the first politician to be appointed in the region after a long tenure, Trivedi will replace career diplomat Pranay Verma, who is moving to Brussels as India’s ambassador to the European Union.
While approval will be sought from the Tariqur Rahman government in Dhaka for Trivedi, the decision to send the 75-year-old veteran politician as India’s envoy to Bangladesh also constitutes a message of accountability to the diplomats of the Ministry of External Affairs.
Trivedi was Union Minister of Railways and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare during the UPA regime, as a member of the Trinamool Congress. He resigned from the TMC on 12 February 2021 and joined the BJP on 6 March 2021.
Trivedi’s appointment comes at a time when India and Bangladesh are trying to repair their relations after the Mohammad Yunus debacle, after the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a coup, with the army and police refusing to fire on the instigators. During the tenure of the US-backed Yunus, India-Bangladesh relations deteriorated, as the senior advisor was unable to contain sectarian violence against the minority community in Bangladesh.
However, the appointment of Dinesh Trivedi is a clear signal from the Modi government that it is not averse to sending political leaders as India’s envoys to key countries, and that these highly sought-after appointments are not just the preserve of Indian Foreign Service officers.
While former Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag served as Indian High Commissioner to Seychelles from 2019 to 2022, Trivedi’s appointment to Dhaka also signals that India will be sending heavyweights to the region as envoys, and that the era of the good times ambassador is over, at least in the subcontinent.
