Amid strained ties since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, foreign secretaries of India and Bangladesh are expected to meet next month in Dhaka
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India and Bangladesh will hold foreign secretary-level talks in December in Dhaka, said Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will meet Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Jashim Uddin under the framework of India-Bangladesh Foreign Office Consultation (FOC), said Hasan, according to state-run news agency Bangladesh Sanghbad Sangstha (BSS).
Hasan was further quoted as saying that the talks will be a step towards normalisation of relations between India and Bangladesh.
During the visit, Bangladesh may raise the issue of ouster premier Sheikh Hasina’s extradition.
Hasan said that the meeting is expected to cover a range of bilateral issues and “there is scope for discussion on the matter (extradition of Hasina)”, according to The Times of India.
The India-Bangladesh relationship has been strained since August when a weekslong protest movement toppled the 15-year-rule of Sheikh Hasina, who then fled to India for her life. She has been living in India since.
Following Hasina’s ouster, the movement, which had been driven and supported by Islamist and pro-Pakistan groups, propped an unelected interim regime of Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus with the support of the army. Bangladesh has been enveloped with a wave of majoritarian and political violence against Hindus, other minorities, and political opponents under Yunus’ regime, which has continued to downplay the violence.
The Yunus’ regime has also released Islamist leaders from jails, such as Jashimuddin Rahmani Hafi of Ansarullah Bangla Team, an affiliate of the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda, which has strained ties with India.
The Yunus regime has continued to demand India to extradite Hasina to answer for the cases that have been filed against her and her supporters.