Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said that there is nothing Bangladesh can do if India is unwilling to send back the ousted authoritarian ruler Sheikh Hasina.
He made the remark on Wednesday while responding to a question from journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Touhid Hossain said, “Tell me, what can we do? What options do we have? There is actually nothing significant to be done. India has to agree or must be willing to return her.”
He added, “If they do not agree, there is really nothing we can do. We can try to persuade them. We can continue trying—but nothing beyond that.”
On 5 August last year, following a mass student–public uprising in Bangladesh, then–Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power and fled to India, where she has remained since.
Last month, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death for killings and crimes against humanity carried out in the suppression of the movement. Although the interim government has formally requested her return, New Delhi has not responded.
Most recently, after the tribunal handed down the death sentence, Bangladesh sent a diplomatic note to India requesting her return under the extradition agreement.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
