India said on April 17 that it is examining Bangladesh's formal request to extradite convicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as part of "ongoing judicial and internal legal processes," offering one of the most detailed public statement New Delhi has made since the request was formally raised at high-level bilateral talks nine days earlier.
"There is a request being examined as part of ongoing judicial and internal legal processes," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters. "We will continue to engage constructively on the issue with all the stakeholders. We follow all developments very closely."
Jaiswal added that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had "reiterated India's desire to engage constructively with the new government and further strengthen bilateral ties," and that "the two sides agreed to explore proposals for deepening the partnership through the relevant bilateral mechanisms." He said official follow-on meetings are expected "at an early date."
The statement came after Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Khalilur Rahman traveled to New Delhi on April 8 and formally placed the extradition request on the table during meetings with Jaishankar, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. The visit was the first high-level ministerial engagement India had hosted since Tarique Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party swept the country's February 12 general election and formed the government.
Speaking in Mauritius after his New Delhi visit, Khalilur Rahman said Bangladesh had "already asked for her return under our extradition treaty" and that he was "reasonably optimistic" about bilateral relations following the talks. "The leaders of our two countries, my PM Tarique Rahman and Indian PM Narendra Modi, had not only exchanged letters, they also spoke, and both want to advance the relationship," Rahman said. "It is a relationship of consequence to both countries and we talked about how to carry it forward," he added, as reported by The Hindu.
Bangladesh's Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir was more direct in describing the Dhaka delegation's message to the Indian side. "We told them she is a terrorist. She is irrelevant to Bangladesh. She doesn't have any room in Bangladesh. She doesn't hold any importance in Bangladesh. People have moved on," Kobir told reporters in Dhaka. Kobir said Bangladesh also stressed that Hasina should not be permitted to use Indian soil to destabilize Bangladesh. "We will continue to seek her extradition through a transparent judicial process," he said.
The meetings also covered energy and people-to-people ties. Khalilur Rahman thanked Puri for a recent Indian diesel supply to Bangladesh and requested an increase in both diesel and fertilizer deliveries. Puri said India would consider the request "readily and favourably," cited ANI. Jaishankar indicated that India would ease visa services for Bangladeshis, particularly for medical and business purposes, in the coming weeks, which India had imposed when ties deteriorated during the Yunus caretaker period, has been a key ask from Dhaka.
Hasina, 78, has been living in India since Aug. 5, 2024, when she resigned and fled Bangladesh after a student-led uprising killed approximately 1,400 people, including children, according to a United Nations investigation. Security forces loyal to her Awami League government had responded with lethal force to what began as a quota reform protest and escalated into a nationwide uprising against her 15-year rule. Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal found her guilty on three of five charges of crimes against humanity on Nov. 17, 2025. The tribunal found that Hasina issued incitement orders, directed security forces to use drones, helicopters and lethal weapons against protesters, and failed to take preventive or punitive measures to stop the killings and sentenced her to death in absentia. Hasina has denied all charges and called the verdict politically motivated.
Human Rights Watch, while acknowledging the gravity of the crimes charged, raised concerns that both Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were prosecuted in absentia without representation by counsel of their choosing, "raising serious human rights concerns."
The April 17 MEA statement, carefully worded and non-committal, signals that New Delhi intends to keep the extradition question within legal channels while protecting the broader diplomatic reset both countries now say they want.
