Bangladesh made a formal request for Sheikh Hasina's extradition, confirms Foreign Secretary Vikrim Misri

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that Bangladesh has made a formal request for the extradition of its former and exiled prime minister Sheikh Hasina, but refused to comment any further, an ANI report said.

“Bangladesh has made a formal request regarding Sheikh Hasina. Saying anything more on this will not be correct right now,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.

Misri said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh's interim PM Muhammad Yunus had discussed the extradition order but there was "nothing more to add" at present.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, which together employ 1.73 billion people and have a combined gross domestic product of $5.2 trillion (2023). The BIMSTEC member states—India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand—are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.

PM Modi meets Bangladeshi counterpart

PM Modi held talks with the interim leader of neighbouring Bangladesh on Friday, the first such meeting since a revolution in Dhaka ousted New Delhi's long-term ally and soured relations.

Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, took charge of Bangladesh in August 2024 after India's old ally Sheikh Hasina was toppled as prime minister by a student-led uprising and fled to India by helicopter.

Yunus posted a picture on social media on Friday showing him shaking hands with Modi. His press secretary Shafiqul Alam said later the "meeting was constructive, productive, and fruitful".

Yunus also shared a photograph of the two men smiling as he handed PM Modi a framed picture of themselves a decade ago, when the latter honoured the micro-finance pioneer in 2015 with a gold medal for his work supporting society's poorest.

India-Bangladesh strained ties

India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina's government and her overthrow sent cross-border relations into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit last month to China – India's biggest rival.

Bangladesh has also moved closer to India's arch-enemy Pakistan during the festering diplomatic dispute.

Tensions between India and Bangladesh have prompted a number of tit-for-tat barbs between senior figures from both governments.

New Delhi has repeatedly accused Muslim-majority Bangladesh of failing to adequately protect its minority Hindu citizens – charges denied by the caretaker administration of Yunus.

Sheikh Hasina in exile in India

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country following student-led protests in August last year. She took refuge in India and has defied extradition requests from Bangladesh to face charges including mass murder.

Dhaka has requested that India allow Hasina's extradition to face charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of protesters during the unrest that toppled her government.

The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and her close aides, and the Yunus-led interim government has sought help from the international police organisation Interpol to arrest them.