Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman is set to meet his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Ministerial meeting scheduled for 8 March in London, marking the first political-level engagement between Dhaka and New Delhi since the BNP government assumed office in February.
Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said preparations are underway for the meeting, which is being viewed as a significant step toward resetting bilateral ties after months of limited engagement.
Diplomatic analysts believe the discussion could help narrow existing gaps between the two neighbours and lay the groundwork for a more structured dialogue. They note that India’s close alignment with the previous Awami League government had, over time, generated perceptions of imbalance in Bangladesh’s domestic political landscape, contributing to rising anti-India sentiment.
It is widely acknowledged that the ousted Awami League administration maintained strong political backing from New Delhi. However, following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024, relations between Bangladesh’s interim authorities and the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi experienced visible strain, with few high-level exchanges taking place.
Sources in both Dhaka and New Delhi indicate that the upcoming meeting will focus on reactivating established bilateral mechanisms and expediting consultations across key sectors, including trade, connectivity, water sharing, border management and security cooperation.
A senior foreign ministry official said Dhaka is keen to start the institutional meetings that were not held for a long time. “We are aiming to hold a formal meeting between the two foreign ministers, possibly in April. That could serve as a constructive starting point to resume a series of structured discussions in different areas of cooperation,” the official said.
Observers say the London meeting will serve as an early test of how both governments intend to recalibrate relations, with expectations that pragmatic engagement will take precedence over past political alignments.
