‘New’ Bangladesh-India ties will avoid ‘mistakes of the past’: Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kobir

Bangladesh wants to build a relation with India that will be focused on “people to people” ties and that will not be limited to individuals and political parties, said a senior official of the current government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday (April 6, 2026). Humayun Kobir, Foreign Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Rahman said, the “new” relation between the two sides will avoid the repeat of “past mistakes”.

“Our bilateral relation should be focused on people-to-people ties so that it will not be focused on individuals. This is what we want and this is also what India desires. We want to ensure this relation avoids the mistakes of the past,” said Mr. Kobir. The remarks were made after Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma called on Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday (April 6, 2026). Briefing the media after the meeting, Mr. Kobir said the two sides discussed energy cooperation through the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline.

India had sent 5,000 metric tonnes of high speed diesel on March 10 and the two sides are in talks to deal with the energy crunch that is growing in Bangladesh against the backdrop of the ongoing U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Mr. Kobir is expected to accompany Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman during his visit to India that is scheduled to start on Tuesday (April 7, 2026). This will be the first Foreign Minister-level visit from the Bangladeshi side since the fall of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024 in a student-people uprising.

Mr. Kobir said Bangladesh has left the era of Sheikh Hasina behind and added, “We have to create a new space for a new relation because Hasina-India relation will no longer be possible. Hasina is a spent force in Bangladesh and her influence is non-existent.” He said that the two sides should do more frequent exchanges at the level of political parties and officials to deal with “difficult issues” so that misunderstandings are avoided.

Officials here said that the visit of Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman remains on track and that he is expected to arrive here on Tuesday for a visit that will include a number of high-level meetings. The two sides have kept a tight lid over the preparations for the talks in view of the delicate nature of the ties that are yet to fully recover from the setbacks suffered during the interim government because of the presence of Ms. Hasina in India and frequent mob attacks on the Indian missions and visa centres in Bangladesh.

Dhaka daily Prothom Alo reported on Monday that apart from the Ganga water treaty’s renewal and energy cooperation, the Bangladeshi team is also expected to raise the need for removal of restrictive measures that India had imposed on the use of Indian sea and airports for Bangladeshi export items during April-June 2025. That apart, Mr. Khalilur Rahman and Mr. Humayun Kobir are also likely to press India for reducing border firing against Bangladeshi civilians. While India says such actions are aimed at criminal gangs and smugglers, Bangladesh maintains that such gangs need to be apprehended and subjected to judicial processes and should not be fired at.