India’s Envoy Dinesh Trivedi Resumes Visas for Bangladeshi Nationals
India’s new High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, assumed office on Thursday by presenting his credentials to President Mohammed Shahabuddin at the Bangabhaban palace in Dhaka. Shortly after the ceremony, he announced the resumption of travel visas for Bangladeshi nationals, which had been suspended nearly two years ago.
Trivedi, a 76-year-old politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party, is the first non-career diplomat to serve in this role. He was appointed on April 27 and arrived in Bangladesh via the Benapole-Petrapole border on June 12. The Indian government granted him the equivalent status of a Union Cabinet Minister for ceremonial purposes, according to a Ministry of Home Affairs order issued on June 24.
“I am very happy to be able to announce the launch of general travel visas again. Visa applications can be submitted starting June 28,” Trivedi said at the Indian Visa Centre in Dhaka. He stated that visas would be available at all five centres—Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Sylhet, and Khulna—with plans to expand further. Urgent medical visas would continue to be issued for humanitarian reasons.
Travel visas for Bangladeshi nationals typically allow visits for tourism, medical treatment, government or business assignments, and transit to third countries. The suspension of these visas two years ago followed a deterioration in bilateral ties during the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in a student-led uprising in August 2024. Security concerns also contributed to the halt.
Elections in Bangladesh earlier this year resulted in a new government under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, with the Awami League barred from contesting. Trivedi succeeds career diplomat Pranay Kumar Verma, whose four-year tenure saw a sharp downturn in relations.
The presentation of credentials included a guard of honour by the President Guard Regiment. A spokesman for the Bangladesh presidency confirmed the ceremony marked the formal start of Trivedi’s diplomatic assignment.
