India names BJP member as envoy to Bangladesh as ties thaw

Politician and India's Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi appointed as the next High Commissioner to Bangladesh

India named veteran politician Dinesh Trivedi as its next high commissioner to Bangladesh on Monday, in a ​rare appointment of a non–foreign service officer as New Delhi ‌seeks to reset ties with its eastern neighbour.

Ties between the countries soured after a popular uprising forced Bangladesh’s long‑serving prime minister Sheikh Hasina to ​flee to New Delhi in 2024, where she remains. ​Trivedi’s appointment highlights India’s push to rebuild trust with ⁠Bangladesh as it faces stiff competition from China for influence and ​business.

Trivedi, 75, a former railways and health minister, joined Prime Minister ​Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in 2021 from a regional party in West Bengal, a border state that plays a key role in India’s ties ​with Bangladesh and where Modi has been seeking to expand ​his party’s influence in ongoing local elections.

Dinesh Trivedi has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh: MEA pic.twitter.com/zSlGHwYJPY

— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2026

"He is expected to take up the assignment ‌shortly,” ⁠India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement about Trivedi.

Relations between the two countries began improving only after an election in February brought Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ​to power, replacing ​an interim government ⁠that had veered strongly towards China.

Bangladesh was part of India in the colonial era and became ​East Pakistan at the end of British rule ​in 1947. ⁠New Delhi intervened and helped Bangladesh become a separate country from Pakistan in 1971.

Bangladesh's foreign minister visited Delhi this month seeking increased fuel and fertiliser supplies, closer ⁠energy ​cooperation and eased travel restrictions, but ​one of the biggest sticking points remains India’s refusal so far to extradite Hasina.