India had “hardly any choice” but to let Hasina’s plane land in 2024, says envoy Trivedi

New Delhi: The Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, said on Saturday that Sheikh Hasina’s sudden arrival in India in August 2024 was unexpected and was not arranged by the Indian Air Force or the Indian Army. He said India had “hardly any choice” but to let the Bangladeshi military aircraft carrying her land as the political crisis in Bangladesh unfolded.

Speaking at the Bay of Bengal Conversation 2026 in Dhaka, Trivedi said India had neither arranged Hasina’s journey nor been prepared for her arrival. “Hasina ji was not brought to India by the Indian Air Force or the Indian Army,” he said, adding that the situation arose because of the “tragic circumstances in Bangladesh” at the time.

Trivedi said the Bangladeshi military aircraft arrived in India while television reports were still suggesting she might be travelling to another country. “At that point in time, Hasina ji was still the prime minister of Bangladesh. We had hardly any choice on that,” he said. “It was our duty as a neighbour to accept the reality of life, because situations are such where at times you are not prepared for it.”

He framed the decision in practical terms. “What was our choice? If we would have said that no, we are not going to accept that, we don’t give landing permission, things would have been, I don’t know what,” Trivedi said.

On Bangladesh’s demand for Hasina’s return, he said the present issue was different from the decision taken in August 2024. “The legal process is there in place,” Trivedi said, adding that India, as a democracy, would respect the legal system.

The aircraft that carried Hasina to India was a Bangladesh Air Force C-130 transport, which landed at Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad. That flight was separate from an earlier military helicopter evacuation from her residence in Dhaka.

The external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, told Parliament on August 6, 2024 that India understood Hasina had “apparently made the decision to resign” after meeting leaders of Bangladesh’s security establishment. He said she then sought approval to come to India at “very short notice”, while Bangladeshi authorities simultaneously requested flight clearance.
Hasina left Bangladesh after weeks of student-led protests that grew into a wider movement demanding her resignation. She has remained in India since August 2024.

Extradition request remains under legal examination

Bangladesh has repeatedly sought Hasina’s extradition, but India has not announced a final decision. Trivedi said the matter was going through a structured legal process involving the courts and that “nobody can give you a timeframe” for its conclusion.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has maintained that Dhaka’s request is being examined in line with established procedures. It reiterated the position in August after the Bangladesh prime minister, Tarique Rahman, raised Hasina’s extradition during a meeting with Trivedi. The MEA spokesman, Randhir Jaiswal, said the matter remained under examination. The two countries have had an extradition treaty in force since October 2013, but the treaty does not determine the outcome of an individual request, which remains subject to its provisions and India’s legal process.

Trivedi also said Bangladesh, as an independent and sovereign country, had the right to take its own decisions, and argued that neighbours should not interfere in each other’s policies. He said outstanding bilateral issues should be addressed through continuous dialogue and consultation.