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India Sits on Bangladesh's Choice for New High Commissioner

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A month on, New Delhi has not cleared Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam as Bangladesh's next High Commissioner, deepening a strained relationship.

More than a month after Dhaka named its pick for its next top diplomat in India, New Delhi has yet to sign off on the choice. The delay marks the newest snag in ties between the two neighbours that have grown noticeably tense.

Bangladesh wants Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam to serve as its High Commissioner in New Delhi. That posting cannot be finalised until India grants an agrément, the host country's formal consent to receive a foreign envoy. So far, India has not given it.

Siam is a seasoned figure, not a newcomer. A career diplomat, he was made Foreign Secretary last year under the interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus. Earlier, he represented Bangladesh as its ambassador in Washington. Yet without New Delhi's approval, his move to India cannot be made official.

The clock adds pressure. The sitting High Commissioner, M. Riaz Hamidullah, is leaving the post. He is due in Geneva around the middle of October to become Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. That leaves the New Delhi chair open and in need of an occupant before long.

Why the Silence Matters

The rules come from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which bars any state from imposing its chosen ambassador or high commissioner on another. The receiving government must consent first. It can decline without giving any reason, or simply offer no answer at all. Such matters are usually handled discreetly, since neither side gains from letting a quiet dispute spill into open view.

By that measure, India holding back on Siam is not a formal rejection. Even so, against the wider backdrop of recent events, the pause is difficult to read as routine.

Cancelled Visits and an Empty Seat

Optimism had briefly returned after Tarique Rahman took charge, but that mood has faded quickly over the past few weeks. Rahman had been scheduled to travel to New Delhi in August. The visit was called off at short notice. India had separately invited him to the BRICS Leaders' Summit in New Delhi, where he was to appear as chair of BIMSTEC, the grouping of nations around the Bay of Bengal. He did not attend, and Bangladesh sent no substitute. Even Hamidullah, still formally posted in Delhi, stayed away.

The friction also feeds off a lingering irritant: Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister who was removed in August 2024 and fled to India, where she has remained since.

Working Groups Keep Turning

The relationship has not seized up entirely. Away from the political summit, day-to-day cooperation continues. Only last week, officials from both governments spent two days in Dhaka discussing railway links and the finer points of cross-border train services. Over roughly the last seven months, several technical working groups have been revived, a signal that both capitals want the routine business of cooperation to carry on regardless of the strain at the top.

India has offered a signal of its own. Earlier in the year it named Dinesh Trivedi, a former Union minister, as its High Commissioner in Dhaka. He assumed the role at the end of June, and the post now carries Cabinet rank, a mark of the weight New Delhi says it places on the relationship.

From Reset to Standstill

Ties had slumped sharply after Hasina's removal in 2024. The interim government that took over tilted more toward China and Pakistan, a shift that unsettled New Delhi. Rahman's arrival raised hopes of a fresh start, and some steps forward did follow. But entrenched disputes and political sensitivities keep undercutting any lasting calm.

Within the last month alone, India extended two invitations to Rahman, one for a state visit and one for the BRICS summit. Neither took place. The stalled clearance for Siam now adds a further doubt to an already tangled situation. Both governments are still in contact through technical sessions and working groups that keep moving. But New Delhi's refusal, so far, to clear Dhaka's nominee for its most senior diplomatic post underlines how wide the gap between the two remains.

India Bangladesh relations, Asad Alam Siam, Bangladesh High Commissioner, Muhammad Yunus government, Tarique Rahman, Sheikh Hasina India, Dinesh Trivedi, BRICS summit New Delhi

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