Bangladesh 'wants to reset ties with India', says relationship under Sheikh Hasina was 'uncomfortable'

Bangladesh said it wants to 'reset' its relationship with India and build a new bilateral engagement based on mutual interests, describing ties during the tenure of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as 'uncomfortable'.

On Sunday, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir said the comments two days after Bangladesh said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not attend the BRICS Summit hosted by India as he was not invited to the event, with the invitation instead extended to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) chair.

The two-day BRICS summit concluded on Sunday in New Delhi. India had invited Rahman to the summit in his capacity as BIMSTEC chair and had also extended a separate bilateral invitation to him in February.

Bangladesh wants to “reset” its bilateral relationship with India and move toward a new engagement through direct talks rather than multilateral forums, Kobir told reporters. “We want to move toward a new relationship, which should be done through bilateral discussions, not through a multilateral forum,” he said.

relations have been strained since New Delhi granted asylum to Hasina, who fled to India after being overthrown following a youth-led agitation in August 2024.

Bangladesh should overcome what Kobir called a 'over-pre-occupation' with India and get a more balanced view of its relations with New Delhi, he said. He said India-Bangladesh relations should be looked at in terms of mutual interests and as part of Bangladesh’s wider engagement with other countries. We have to get out of the fascination with India. “India is just another country and Bangladesh wants good relations with India bilaterally,” he said.

The minister said in reply to a question, “Breakfast in India, lunch in India, dinner in India -- when will you have your own food?

Prime Minister Rahman is also due to leave for New York on September 21 to attend the 81st session of the UN General Assembly and stay there until September 26, Kobir said.

When asked about the prospects of a meeting between Rahman and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UNGA, he said such meetings are often decided at the last moment during major international conferences. “The main agenda of the Prime Minister’s visit is to participate in the UN General Assembly,” Kobir said, adding that details of the sideline meetings would be known in due course.