The government has told a parliamentary panel that Bangladesh’s request for Sheikh Hasina’s extradition is still being examined. Officials said this while the committee was looking at the overall state of India-Bangladesh ties. They made it plain that the matter is moving only through the normal legal and judicial route.
Hasina has been in India since August 2024. She left Dhaka when the protests became too big and her government collapsed. Bangladesh has asked India more than once to send her back so she can stand trial. A special tribunal there later gave her a death sentence in her absence for the way the protests were handled. That has kept the demand alive.
When the panel brought it up, the Centre simply repeated what it has been saying for a long time: the request has come and it is under examination. No date was given. Officials also told the committee that Hasina is not being allowed any political activity from Indian soil. No platform, nothing directed against another country.
The committee noted all of this. In its remarks it said the government should keep following its humanitarian line. It spoke about India’s old practice of giving shelter to people who are in real trouble and said these cases need careful handling, keeping both values and responsibilities in mind.
This is not a fresh answer. At almost every MEA briefing the same words come out. “Yes, we have received an extradition request. As we have stated earlier, the request is under examination.” They also keep saying India wants peace and stability in Bangladesh and will keep talking to all sides.
The story behind the request is simple enough. After 5 August 2024 Hasina crossed into India. The interim government in Dhaka, under Muhammad Yunus, sent a formal request under the bilateral treaty. The demand grew stronger after the death sentence. Bangladesh says India has a duty to hand her over. India has taken its time. Sending back a former prime minister is never straightforward, especially when the charges feel political. The treaty itself lets a country refuse if the offence is seen as political in nature. Lawyers say any final decision will have to look at that carefully, along with fair trial questions and the fact that the sentence is death.
While this hangs in the air, ordinary work between the two countries goes on. The same panel worried that fewer visas for Bangladeshi citizens are hurting ordinary contact between people. After August 2024 visa services were cut and some staff were pulled out. The government told the committee that about 1,500 visas are being given every day now across five centres, most of them for medical reasons. The panel asked the Ministry of External Affairs to work with the security side and slowly bring the visa system back to normal when the situation allows, without dropping the needed checks.
Hasina’s stay is still one of the sensitive points. For India she was a known partner for many years. For the people now running things in Dhaka she is unfinished business. Handling that without spoiling the larger relationship is the quiet job in front of the government.
So far the public line has not changed. The request is being examined. No one is saying when a decision might come. In the panel meetings and in the statements from South Block the message stays the same: the process comes first.
The committee’s suggestions will now sit on the record. Whether this examination ends with extradition, more legal steps, or just longer waiting is still not clear. What is clear is that India is dealing with it on its own terms — by the law, with some thought for humanitarian reasons, and with a careful look at its neighbourhood interests.
Sources:
Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs observations and Action Taken Report on India-Bangladesh relations (reported July 2026)
Ministry of External Affairs weekly media briefings (Randhir Jaiswal statements, 2025–2026)
The Times of India, 30 July 2026
The Daily Star, 17–18 July 2026
Deccan Herald, 17 July 2026
Earlier MEA replies in Parliament (Rajya Sabha, 2025)
@Rohit Manral