India says no role in Hasina press event
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters on August 4 that the government has no 'involvement whatsoever' in Sheikh Hasina's planned FCC press conference and 'neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed at the forum.'
- Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kobir met Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi in Dhaka on August 3 and warned that Hasina's political activities on Indian soil could 'harm positive progress of bilateral relations between the two countries.'
- Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India after a student-led uprising toppled her government on August 5, 2024, plans to announce her return to Bangladesh during an 'exclusive interactive session' at the FCC on Wednesday, per FCC president Dr. Waiel Awwad.
- Bangladesh's Press Information Department issued a notification on August 4 urging domestic media not to platform Hasina's remarks, citing the death sentence the International Crimes Tribunal pronounced against her last year.
- The Awami League was formally banned by the Tarique Rahman government via an amendment to an anti-terrorism act in April 2026, after the Mohammed Yunus-led interim government had already barred political activity by the party and its student wing Chhatra League from August 2024 to February 2026.
- India extended its BRICS outreach invitation to Tarique Rahman specifically as current BIMSTEC Chair rather than as Bangladesh's Prime Minister, a framing diplomatic sources in Dhaka said was not appreciated; the MEA clarified a separate bilateral visit invitation was extended to Rahman as PM after his February 17 swearing-in.
Why it matters: Dhaka diplomatic sources told the source the Hasina controversy has 'snowballed' alongside Bangladesh's processing of India's BRICS invitation, with one high-level source stating 'there will definitely be an impact' on bilateral ties. New Delhi's firewalling of the FCC event as a private affair, combined with a parallel Bangladeshi media gag, leaves little room for either side to quietly absorb the fallout before BRICS convenes.
