India will be represented at the funeral of former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia by external affairs minister S Jaishankar, the external affairs ministry said on Tuesday.
Khaleda, Bangladesh's first woman premier and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), died after a prolonged illness in a hospital in Dhaka early on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the leaders who condoled her death, recalling her important contributions to India-Bangladesh ties.
Jaishankar will visit Dhaka on December 31 for the funeral, the external affairs ministry said in a brief statement.
Leaders of several regional countries, including Pakistan foreign minister Ishaq Dar, are expected to participate in the funeral.
The funeral prayers for Khaleda will be offered at the Parliament complex in Dhaka and she will be buried beside the grave of her husband, former military ruler Ziaur Rahman, at his mausoleum.
The decision to send Jaishankar to represent India at the funeral comes at a time when bilateral ties are at a fresh low following weeks of acrimonious exchanges between New Delhi and Dhaka.
Relations nose-dived after the caretaker administration led by Muhammad Yunus assumed office in August 2024, and the two sides recently clashed over the lynching of a Hindu man in Mymensingh and unsubstantiated claims by Bangladeshi officials that the killers of radical student leader Sharif Osman Hadi had sneaked into India.
The government decided to go ahead with Jaishankar’s participation in the funeral despite concerns in some quarters that student groups and anti-India elements could organise protests during his visit, people familiar with the matter said.
{{/usCountry}}The government decided to go ahead with Jaishankar’s participation in the funeral despite concerns in some quarters that student groups and anti-India elements could organise protests during his visit, people familiar with the matter said.
{{/usCountry}}Jaishankar’s visit is also being seen as part of New Delhi’s outreach to the BNP, which is expected to emerge as the single largest party in Bangladesh’s upcoming general election scheduled for February 12. India-Bangladesh relations were marked by strains when the party was in power in the 1990s and early 2000s, but BNP leaders have signalled a new approach to ties with New Delhi.