Bangladesh govt claims India unlikely to return Hasina

DHAKA: Just days after it made a formal push for the extradition of its opponent Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladesh interim govt seems to be getting resigned to the prospect of New Delhi turning down its request to hand over the ousted PM. "Our observation is that they have made a political decision not to return her. This is what we are hearing," interim govt adviser Mahfuj Alam said in response to questions from the media after a foreign policy dialogue at the foreign ministry on Sunday. The dialogue was moderated by foreign secretary Md Jashim Uddin.

India has so far refrained from formally responding to Bangladesh's extradition request, which was made through a note verbale, on Dec 23. The official request for Hasina's extradition followed an arrest warrant issued earlier for her alleged involvement in "crimes against humanity" to suppress the student-led protests that led to the downfall of her Awami League govt in Aug.

On Dec 24, Bangladesh foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam said, "We will wait for a reasonable period before taking any further action. The diplomatic note was submitted to India, and if no response is received, we will issue a reminder." He had clarified that the extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India does not specify a time frame for responses.