Sheikh Hasina's extradition possible via 'well-structured' process: India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh

Extradition of Bangladesh's deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina could take place via a "well-structured process" that involved "legality", and that a legal process was "in place", India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi said on Saturday (October 3, 2026).

Speaking of Ms. Hasina's presence in India at the Bay of Bengal Conversation, an annual conclave organised by the Dhaka-based Centre for Governance Studies, Mr. Trivedi said Ms. Hasina had sought refuge in India based on a decision taken by those governing Bangladesh in July-August 2024, and that, "India had hardly any choice."

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"Again and again, the Government of India through the Spokesperson in MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has replied to this -- that there is a process, and that the process involves legality, and it is well-structured. So, as far as that is concerned, the process is on," Mr. Trivedi said in response to a question from a student at the conclave on Ms. Hasina's extradition.

The incumbent government of Bangladesh, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, has demanded several times that Ms. Hasina be extradited to face justice for the July-August 2024 crackdown that led to the death of at least 800 civilians, including many students. A panel under the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights placed the number of fatalities at about 1,400.

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"The legal process is there in place, which you can be very sure [about] -- India being as vibrant and democratic as Bangladesh is -- and you will also respect the legal system, and the legal system is on," Mr. Trivedi said, adding, "Nobody can give you a time frame [for the extradition]."

India and Bangladesh signed an extradition treaty in 2013, with specified grounds under which it may be halted, including "offence of a political character".

Mr. Trivedi spoke of the "tragic circumstances" in Bangladesh while referring to India's decision to provide refuge to Ms. Hasina. "The situation arose because of tragic circumstances in Bangladesh, that must not be repeated anywhere else in the world. At that point in time, Ms. Hasina was still the PM of Bangladesh. We hardly had any choice on that and it was our duty to accept the reality of life," the High Commissioner said.

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He also referred to the abrupt nature of developments in the final moments of the anti-Hasina uprising, adding, "because situations are such, where at times you are not prepared for it".

On August 5, 2024, Ms. Hasina was first airlifted from near her residence in Bangladesh by a military helicopter and then flown to India by the Bangladesh Air Force aircraft. Mr. Trivedi recalled the involvement of Bangladesh's then existing government machinery in facilitating Ms. Hasina's evacuation from Dhaka, and said, "Ms. Hasina was not brought to India by the Indian Air Force or Indian Army."

"What was our choice? If you would have said no to that, and that we were not going to accept, or if we did not give landing permission, then things would have been different," Mr. Trivedi said in a session titled 'Power and Prudence' on the first day of the three-day conclave being held at Hotel Sonargaon in Dhaka.

Mr. Trivedi, who arrived here as the new High Commissioner of India on June 12, noted that innocent people had died in Bangladesh in the last days of Ms. Hasina's rule.

In November 2025, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal handed death sentences to Ms. Hasina and her Home Minister Asaduzaman Khan Kamal, and on September 15, 2026, to several of her former colleagues, including erstwhile Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, Obaidul Quader.

India and Bangladesh commenced an official conversation on hosting Mr. Rahman in New Delhi after the arrival of the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka. Meanwhile, Ms. Hasina held a virtual press interaction on August 5 at New Delhi's Foreign Correspondents Club, her first since she was deposed, which outraged the incumbent government and caused turbulence in bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries. Mr. Rahman's government has been urging India to stop Ms. Hasina from engaging in political activities from India.

Ms. Hasina on August 5, 2026 declared that she would return to Bangladesh by December. Mr. Trivedi maintains that a good neighbour would not interfere in the internal affairs of neighbouring States. "Bangladesh is an independent country. It will decide independently with which country it will build and maintain relations," the High Commissioner said.

(The correspondent is in Bangladesh at the invitation of the Centre for Governance Studies, Dhaka to participate in the 2026 Bay of Bengal Conversation.)