RAW chief Parag Jain met Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Defence Affairs Advisor Brigadier General (retired) Dr AKM Shamsul Islam in Dhaka on Monday, as both nations attempt to stabilise strained ties and move towards a reset.

The meeting was part of a wider Indian delegation’s official visit to Bangladesh, organised at the invitation of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the country’s principal intelligence agency.

Jain led a four-member team that arrived in Dhaka on Sunday. The delegation included Ashwin Mukund Kotnis, Rahul Negi and Shaibal Roy Chowdhury. Their engagements extended beyond the Prime Minister’s office, with meetings held with chiefs of law enforcement agencies and Bangladesh’s Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed. The delegation returned to New Delhi after completing its schedule.

The timing of Jain’s meeting with Shamsul Islam coincided with Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi’s separate meeting with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Diplomatic sources described Jain’s visit as routine, noting that DGFI delegations travel to India while RAW officials visit Dhaka every other year. These exchanges are designed to share perspectives on the regional security environment and strengthen institutional cooperation.

The visit comes at a sensitive juncture. India-Bangladesh relations had deteriorated during the tenure of former chief advisor Muhammad Yunus. Tarique Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secured a decisive mandate in March, ushering in a new government that has pledged to recalibrate ties with New Delhi.

However, the issue of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continues to cast a shadow. Hasina fled to India in 2024 after massive student protests toppled her government. Dhaka has repeatedly sought her extradition to face legal proceedings, while India has said it is examining the request in line with legal obligations and procedures.

The RAW chief’s Dhaka visit came just days after Hasina made her first public appearance before international media since her ouster. On 5 August, she addressed a virtual press conference from New Delhi, rejecting the official account of the 2024 uprising and describing it as a “planned regime change” rather than a peaceful student-led movement.

She also declared her intention to return to Bangladesh in December, despite facing multiple criminal cases and a death sentence handed down in absentia.

Her remarks provoked a sharp response from Dhaka. The government accused India of allowing its territory to be used to undermine Bangladesh’s sovereignty, calling the event “an affront” and stating that it insulted those killed in the 2024 uprising.

Officials said they had conveyed concerns to New Delhi before the event and warned of its potential impact on bilateral ties. India distanced itself from the program, clarifying that the event was organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia, a private entity, and that the government had no involvement or endorsement of views expressed there.

These developments underscore the fragile state of India-Bangladesh relations. While institutional exchanges such as Jain’s visit are intended to maintain dialogue and prevent further deterioration, the political sensitivities surrounding Hasina’s presence in India and her continued interventions from abroad remain a major obstacle.

The coming months will test whether both governments can compartmentalise these disputes and pursue a pragmatic reset in their strategic partnership.

Agencies