External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will attend the funeral of former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia in Dhaka on Wednesday. His visit comes amid a strain in ties between the countries over attacks against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.
An official statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said, "Jaishankar will represent the government and people of India at the funeral of Khaleda Zia, former prime minister of Bangladesh and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party."
Khaleda Zia, former prime minister and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, died on Tuesday following a prolonged illness. She was 80 years old.
According to ANI, Zia has been suffering from various physical ailments, including heart disease, liver cirrhosis, and kidney complications for a long time. She was sent to London for advanced medical treatment for her ailments earlier this month. Several world leaders are expected to attend the funeral.
The first woman prime minister of Bangladesh, the BNP leader played a major role in restoring democracy after a period of tumultuous military rule in the neighbouring country.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled her demise and said her contributions towards strengthening India-Bangladesh ties will always be remembered. Modi said in a post on X, "As the first woman prime minister of Bangladesh, her important contributions towards the development of Bangladesh, as well as India-Bangladesh relations, will always be remembered. I recall my warm meeting with her in Dhaka in 2015. We hope that her vision and legacy will continue to guide our partnership."
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His visit comes amid a strain in India-Bangladesh ties over attacks against minorities in Bangladesh. India has been raising the issue of attacks against minorities, especially Hindus, in the neighbouring country during recent unrest.
However, Bangladesh is irked with India over granting asylum to former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina. A court recently sentenced Hasina to death for crimes against humanity.
India recently urged the Bangladesh authorities to take stern action in the death of Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das. However, Dhaka maintained that it was an isolated incident, and India is hyping such incidents as organized religious persecution in a systematic attempt to create anti-Bangladesh sentiment.
