Government appoints former Union minister Dinesh Trivedi as Bangladesh envoy

New Delhi: Former Union minister Dinesh Trivedi has been appointed as India's high commissioner to Bangladesh, marking the first time the Modi government has chosen a politician to head an overseas diplomatic mission.

Trivedi, Union minister in the erstwhile UPA government, will replace Pranay Verma, an IFS officer who will move to his next posting in Brussels.

Trivedi, who joined BJP in 2021 after a long stint with Trinamool Congress, will have the delicate task of repairing Bangladesh ties that have been under strain since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following nationwide protests. Ties spiralled downwards after the caretaker government led by Mohammed Yunus took an adversarial stance, rolling back decades-long cooperation with India.


Trivedi will interact and open political channels with the new government in Dhaka led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party's Tarique Rahman. To mend ties, Trivedi will have to handle the situation around Hasina, who fled to India following nationwide protests. Bangladesh has made official representations asking for her return. The Yunus government was also unable to rein in extremist elements, leading to a rise in attacks on the Hindu minority.

The Modi government till now has sent only career diplomats to head foreign missions, barring the appointment of former Army chief General Dalbir Singh as envoy to Seychelles in 2019.