Following a prolonged period of strain in bilateral ties through much of last year, India-Bangladesh relations appeared to be looking up when the two sides vowed in April to reset ties. However, the recent mistreatment of Zahed Ur Rahman, an adviser to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, by Indian officials in New Delhi, which led to the Bangladeshi government summoning the Indian Deputy High Commissioner to formally lodge a protest, reveals how lingering mistrust continues to derail bilateral relations between the two neighbors.
This is the second time that the Bangladesh foreign ministry has called in the Indian mission in Dhaka since Tarique Rahman’s government took office in February 2026. Following what Bangladeshi officials termed as “disparaging” remarks by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding India’s policy on infiltrators, the acting Indian high commissioner was summoned by the Bangladeshi government last month.
Zahed Ur Rahman was travelling to Delhi for a meeting of senior officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association. He was initially denied entry into India by immigration authorities at the airport. According to Rahman’s account, he was kept waiting at the airport for “nearly two and a half hours” after which he was cleared for entry.
