India has not yet granted formal approval for Bangladesh’s nomination of Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam as its next high commissioner to New Delhi, more than a month after Dhaka submitted his name, according to an NDTV report.
Bangladesh wants to appoint Siam as its next high commissioner in Delhi, but India must first issue agrément—the host country’s formal approval for an ambassadorial or high commissioner appointment. New Delhi has not yet provided that approval.
Siam is a career diplomat with extensive experience. He became foreign secretary last year during the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus and previously served as Bangladesh’s ambassador to Washington. Bangladesh cannot formally implement his new posting in Delhi without Indian approval.
The matter has gained urgency as the tenure of current Bangladesh High Commissioner M Riaz Hamidullah is nearing its end. Hamidullah is scheduled to leave for Geneva in mid-October to take up his new role as Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
Under the Vienna Convention, a country cannot directly appoint its preferred ambassador or high commissioner to another country without prior approval from the receiving state. A host country is not required to explain a refusal or delay in granting agrément and may remain silent on the matter.
Most countries handle the process privately to prevent confidential diplomatic complications from becoming public disputes. Technically, India’s delay in granting Siam’s agrément does not amount to a direct rejection, although it has raised questions amid recent tensions between Dhaka and Delhi.
Expectations had emerged that Bangladesh-India relations could take a new direction after Tarique Rahman became Bangladesh’s prime minister. Those expectations have weakened in recent weeks.
India had said that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was due to visit New Delhi in August, but the visit was cancelled. India had earlier invited him, as chair of BIMSTEC—the regional grouping of Bay of Bengal countries—to attend the BRICS leaders’ summit in New Delhi.
Rahman did not accept that invitation, and Bangladesh did not send another representative. Current Bangladesh High Commissioner M Riaz Hamidullah, who remains Bangladesh’s official representative in Delhi, was also absent from the event.
Tensions have also been heightened by the presence in India of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was removed from power during the July 2024 uprising. Hasina travelled to India after her removal in August 2024 and has remained there since.
Despite tensions at the political level, cooperation between the two countries has not come to a complete halt. Officials from Bangladesh and India attended a two-day meeting in Dhaka last week, discussing rail connectivity and various issues related to cross-border train operations.
Several technical working groups between the two countries have also been reactivated over the past seven months. The continued meetings indicate that both governments remain interested in maintaining day-to-day cooperation despite political difficulties.
India has also taken its own diplomatic step. Earlier this year, New Delhi appointed former Union minister Dinesh Trivedi as India’s high commissioner to Dhaka. Trivedi assumed office in late June and holds cabinet-rank status.
Relations between Bangladesh and India deteriorated significantly after Sheikh Hasina’s removal from power in 2024. The interim government formed afterwards moved comparatively closer to China and Pakistan, a development that was not well received in New Delhi.
Hope had emerged that bilateral relations could begin afresh after Tarique Rahman assumed power, and some progress was made. However, earlier tensions and politically sensitive issues continue to obstruct efforts to stabilise relations.
India has extended two separate invitations to Tarique Rahman in the past month—one for a state visit and another to attend the BRICS summit. Neither visit nor participation took place.
India’s pending approval for Siam’s appointment as Bangladesh’s high commissioner to Delhi has added another question mark to the relationship. Technical meetings and working groups continue, but New Delhi’s failure to approve Dhaka’s preferred nominee for its top diplomatic post indicates that significant distance remains between the two countries.