Delhi sticks to legal route on Hasina extradition

Detailed summary

India has reiterated that Sheikh Hasina’s extradition will be dealt with through legal channels, declining to comment on a BBC Bangla report that New Delhi has set two conditions…

India has reiterated that Sheikh Hasina’s extradition will be dealt with through legal channels, declining to comment on a BBC Bangla report that New Delhi has set two conditions for her return to Bangladesh.

According to the report published on Thursday, Indian officials have indicated that Bangladesh must arrange for the former prime minister’s return through its military.

As Hasina arrived in India aboard a Bangladesh military aircraft on August 5, 2024, the Bangladesh Army would have to take her back, either by sending an aircraft to Delhi or receiving her at a designated point along the land border. India is prepared to make the necessary logistical arrangements, the report said.

The second condition is that Bangladesh must guarantee Hasina the opportunity to appeal against her death sentence and ensure a fresh trial over the killings during the July uprising.

Hasina fled to India amid the youth-led mass uprising and has been living there since. She was sentenced to death in November 2025 for crimes against humanity committed during the uprising.

Bangladesh has formally sought her extradition twice, first through a diplomatic note verbale in December 2024 and again after the death sentence was handed down in November 2025.

The foreign minister also raised the issue at a bilateral meeting last April, a foreign ministry official said, adding that India had not responded to Bangladesh’s extradition requests.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Dhaka had received no communication from India about the reported conditions.

“We are not aware whether the Indian side made any such request at the political level. Diplomats were also not involved in discussions when she left Bangladesh in 2024,” the official added.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Daily Star. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.