Jaishankar to host Bangladesh counterpart Khalilur Rahman for crucial bilateral talks

New Delhi | External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host his Bangladeshi counterpart Khalilur Rahman on Wednesday for wide-ranging talks in a significant initiative to repair the bilateral ties following an over 18-month period of heightened diplomatic tension.

Rahman's three-day trip to New Delhi from Tuesday is the first high-level visit by a senior member of the new Bangladesh Nationalist Party government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

The relations between India and Bangladesh witnessed major downturn after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus came to power following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government in August, 2024.

The two sides initiated efforts to stabilise the relations after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, represented India at the inauguration of Tarique Rahman as the prime minister in Dhaka on February 17.

Tarique Rahman became the prime minister following his party's landslide victory in the parliamentary polls.

The focus of Wednesday's meeting between the external affairs minister and his Bangladeshi counterpart will be to repair the ties and start a new phase in the relations, people familiar with the matter said.

The Ganga water treaty was signed in December 1996 that provides for a mechanism for sharing of the river water between the two riparian states.

It is not immediately known if the festering issue relating to the sharing of the waters of the Teesta river will figure in the talks between the two foreign ministers.

Another contentious issue has been Dhaka's demand to extradite former prime minister Hasina. Hasina, 78, has been living in India after she fled Dhaka following the collapse of her government in August, 2024 in the face of a massive anti-government agitation.

The renewal of the Ganga Waters Treaty that expires this year, ways to bolster trade and Bangladesh's request to India for additional fuel supplies in view of shortage caused by the West Asia conflict are likely to figure in the talks.

The Bangladesh foreign minister is also likely to meet NSA Ajit Doval as well as Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.