India invited Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister Tarique Rahman months ago. He still hasn’t come.
Sheikh Hasina — ousted in 2024 and living in India — was sentenced to death in absentia. Dhaka wants her extradited before any summit. New Delhi says the request is under legal process and gives no timeline. Her public statements from Indian soil only deepened the freeze.
The result? Eight months into the new government, the two prime ministers have not met.
Trade talks have just restarted after three years. The Ganges water treaty expires in December. Connectivity, border management, and trust remain stuck.
Is Hasina the real reason for the delay, or the perfect political cover? How much are domestic pressures and other external factors shaping Dhaka’s caution? And if the leaders do not sit down this year, what kind of relationship is even possible between India and Bangladesh?
In this episode of TNIE Global Talks, a former Indian ambassador to Bangladesh Pinak Chakravarty answers the sharp questions.
No diplomatic language. Just the hard reality of a deadlock that neither side can ignore.