India has named Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dinesh Trivedi as its next high commissioner to Bangladesh.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs made the announcement yesterday, stating that the 75-year-old veteran politician is expected to assume his new role shortly.
The appointment is a rare instance of a non-Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer being named to the role, and the move comes as New Delhi seeks to reset ties with Dhaka.
Trivedi will replace IFS officer Pranay Verma, who is moving to Brussels as India’s envoy to the European Union and the Kingdom of Belgium.
A former railway minister (2011-2012) and union minister of state for health and family welfare (2009-2011) under former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet, Trivedi served as an MP from 2009 to 2019, representing the Barrakpore constituency in West Bengal for the All India Trinamool Congress. He joined the BJP in 2021.
Ties between New Delhi and Dhaka were strained after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India in August 2024 following weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government.
In April, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman visited New Delhi, marking the first high-level bilateral engagement hosted by India since the Awami League government was ousted.
Diplomatic sources said it is surprising to see India, for the first time, has appointed a politician as a high commissioner to Bangladesh.
“It is rare that India makes political appointments to such posts. Even if it does, the appointees have careers in diplomacy,” a diplomatic source said.
When asked, Prof Sreeradha Datta, who teaches international affairs at O.P. Jindal Global University, thinks this decision could emerge out of India’s willingness to improve political relationships with the BNP as a party.
India is viewed as having a strong relationship with the Awami League but has faced criticism for that, especially during the Awami League regime.
Prof Datta noted that Trivedi speaks Bangla fluently, though he is not Bangalee, and is well versed in Bangladesh’s politics.
“This does not mean that the career diplomats are not knowledgeable about it. But I think the Indian government is thinking differently on ways of improving relations with Bangladesh. I would say that’s good.
“Trivedi might be considered to understand the sensitivities in the relations better and then handle them accordingly.”