NSA Doval hosts foreign minister Khalilur Rahman for dinner as New Delhi, Dhaka hit reset

NAtional certificate advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval hosted people's republic of bangladesh strange government minister Khalilur Rahman for talks over dinner hours after his arrival in New Delhi on Tuesday evening, with the visit being seen as part of the Tarique Rahman government’s efforts to forge a new relationship with India based on mutual trust and shared interests.Rahman, a veteran UN diplomat who served as NSA in the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, is the first minister to visit India since the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept the general election in February. His delegation includes Humayun Kabir, foreign affairs adviser to the PM and one of the most influential members of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s inner circle.Doval has played a key behind-the-scenes role in ties with Bangladesh in recent years, and his meeting with Rahman was an opportunity for the two sides to continue the reset of the bilateral relationship after the strains witnessed during the caretaker administration's term, people familiar with the matter said.There was no official word from either side on the meeting between Doval and Rahman, which lasted about an hour and was followed by a dinner hosted by the NSA.Kabir, who built up a close relationship with PM Rahman while the latter was in self-exile in the UK for 17 years, is expected to meet members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s foreign affairs cell as part of efforts to strengthen the overall relationship, the people said.Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Dhaka would emphasise “stability and continuous development of bilateral relations based on dignity, mutual trust and respect, and shared interests” during Rahman’s meetings with Indian interlocutors, including Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar.The statement expressed the hope that Rahman’s visit would lay an “important foundation for elevating” bilateral cooperation to a more fruitful and sustainable level.Rahman will also meet commerce minister Piyush Goyal and petroleum minister Hardeep Puri on Wednesday, the external affairs ministry said. The meeting with Puri assumes significance in light of Dhaka’s request to New Delhi for additional fuel supplies, especially diesel, to help Bangladesh cope with an energy crisis brought on by the West Asia conflict.Other key topics expected to figure in Rahman’s meetings are easing of visa restrictions imposed by the Indian side, especially for tourists and businesspeople, restoration of access to Indian land and sea ports for Bangladesh’s exports, which was restricted in 2025 as relations nosedived, the speeding up of the process to renew the Ganga Waters Treaty that is set to expire in December, and firing by Indian border guards on Bangladeshi citizens transgressing the frontier, the people said.The Indian side has insisted that border guards take action against smugglers and criminal elements from across the border, while Bangladeshi officials have said such persons should be apprehended and prosecuted, instead of using lethal force against them.Ahead of Rahman’s visit, Indian high commissioner Pranay Verma met PM Rahman in Dhaka on Monday and discussed bilateral engagement, with the “focus on people-centric cooperation in multiple domains aligned with the national development priorities of the two countries”, the Indian high commission said. Verma conveyed India’s intent to work with the government and people of Bangladesh by “adopting a positive, constructive and forward-looking approach” based on mutual interest and mutual benefit.This is in line with India’s outreach to the BNP leadership in recent months, including Jaishankar’s representation of India at the funeral of former premier Khaleda Zia in December and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s participation in the inauguration of PM Rahman's government in February.The BNP has insisted on the need for a “new relationship” that marks a break with the era of former premier and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in self-exile in India since her government was toppled by student-led protests in August 2024.Kabir told reporters in Dhaka on Monday that the two sides should not “commit the mistake of the past, where the relationship was solely between India and an individual”, and instead “create a new space for a new relationship”. He said, “It should be people-to-people ties – this is what India wants and what we want. There should be open engagement and dialogue between us…so that some of the challenging issues, we may be able to resolve.”He added, “There has to be a clean break. It can no longer be a relationship between India and [Sheikh] Hasina. Hasina is non-existent in Bangladesh; she died politically a long time ago, and there is no Hasina or Awami League in Bangladesh.”