Indian envoy meets Bangladesh Speaker; discusses parliamentary ties

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi met Speaker Maj Gen (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal at the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament). Photo Credit: X@ihcdhaka

Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) met the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament and discussed ways to deepen engagement between the legislatures of the two countries.

Mr. Trivedi met Speaker Maj Gen (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal at the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament), the Indian High Commission here said in a social media post.

During the meetings, the envoy underlined that engagement between the two parliaments is vital for strengthening people-to-people ties between the two sovereign and democratic countries, it said.

"The discussion included opportunities for formation of Parliamentary Friendship Groups, mutual visits of Parliamentary delegations under the guidance of both the Speakers, cooperation between Parliamentary committees and digitisation of Parliamentary records," the Mission said.

He reiterated an invitation, on behalf of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, extended to the esteemed dignitaries to visit India at their earliest convenience.

Talking to reporters after the meetings, Mr. Trivedi said it was entirely the prerogative of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman if he would visit New Delhi responding to an invitation from his counterpart Narendra Modi.

“This is left to the Prime Minister’s prerogative. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh is a very intelligent person. He is pro-people. I think we should leave it to the Prime Minister,” he told reporters when asked about Mr. Rahman's visit to India.

He also said both sides' intentions in advancing bilateral ties remained "people-oriented" and “when it appears as a people-centric issue, then what must happen, will happen".

Bangladesh’s government is seeking extradition of deposed premier Sheikh Hasina.

Prime Minister Modi sent a congratulatory message through Speaker Birla during Mr. Rahman’s inauguration on February 17 and invited him to visit India along with his family.

The second invitation came coinciding with the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12-13.

Asked about progress in restarting talks between Bangladesh and India, Mr. Trivedi said there was no end to discussion in a democracy. “If discussion ends, then that is not democracy," he said.