India Clarifies No Government Role in Sheikh Hasina’s Planned Media Interaction

PTI, August 4, 2026, New Delhi : India on Tuesday said it has nothing to do with former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s plan to hold a virtual interaction with the media in New Delhi this week.

Hasina is set to hold her first media interaction on Wednesday evening, two years after she fled Dhaka following a massive anti-government protest.

Dhaka on Monday sought clarification on the issue from the Indian side, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s foreign affairs adviser Humaiun Kobir saying the planned public interaction from Indian soil could undermine the positive momentum seen in the ties between the two sides in recent months.

“The interaction you refer to is being organised by a private media entity. The government has no involvement whatsoever in it, neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed at the forum,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

He was answering a question on Hasina’s plan during his bi-weekly media briefing.

Hasina is set to address the virtual press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club.

The former Prime Minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and a number of other Awami League leaders, including Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and Shakib Al Hasan, are likely to speak at the conference.

Hasina, 78, has been living in India after she fled Dhaka following the collapse of her government in August 2024 in the face of a massive anti-government agitation.

Last November, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal in Dhaka for alleged “crimes against humanity” over her government’s brutal crackdown on student-led protests in 2024.

Since the verdict, Dhaka has been urging New Delhi to extradite her to face the law.

The relations between India and Bangladesh witnessed a major downturn after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus came to power following the collapse of the Hasina government.

The two sides initiated efforts to stabilise relations after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, represented India at the inauguration of Rahman as the Prime Minister in Dhaka on February 17.

Rahman became the Prime Minister following his party’s landslide victory in the parliamentary polls. Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from contesting the polls.

In April, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman visited India as part of efforts to repair the strained bilateral ties following more than 18 months of heightened diplomatic tension.

It was the first high-level visit to India by a senior member of the new Bangladesh Nationalist Party government.