Decision on Staying in India Rests with Sheikh Hasina: Jaishankar

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that whether Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina remains in India is a decision entirely dependent on her own choice.

He made the comments on Saturday in New Delhi while responding to a question from NDTV CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. Jaishankar also expressed hope that bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh would improve in the future.

Following a student-led mass uprising in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina stepped down from power and sought shelter in India on 5 August last year. She has remained there since then. Last month, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity, including killings carried out during the suppression of the movement. Although Bangladesh’s interim government has formally requested her extradition, New Delhi has so far offered no official response.

During the discussion at the Leadership Summit, Rahul Kanwal asked whether Sheikh Hasina could stay in India for as long as she wished. In reply, Jaishankar first remarked that it was a different matter altogether. He said Sheikh Hasina had arrived in India under special circumstances and that those circumstances clearly influenced the situation. Ultimately, however, the decision would have to be hers.

Since Sheikh Hasina began living in India, bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries have experienced strain.

Responding to another question from Rahul Kanwal of NDTV, Jaishankar outlined New Delhi’s position on the need for a credible democratic process in Bangladesh.

Referring to Bangladesh’s past political issues, the Indian foreign minister said what India had heard was that the Bangladeshi people, particularly those currently in power, had concerns about how previous elections were conducted. If elections were indeed the problem, he said, the first priority should be to hold a free and fair election.

Expressing optimism about future relations, Jaishankar said India wished well for Bangladesh. He added that, as with any democratic country, Bangladesh sought to reflect the will of its people through democratic processes.

He said he was confident that whatever outcome emerged from a democratic process would bring a balanced and mature approach to bilateral relations and expressed hope that the situation would improve.

Khaborwala/SS