Bangladesh Appoints New High Commissioner to New Delhi Amid Efforts to Reset Bilateral Ties

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam, who has earlier served as Dhaka’s envoy to Washington, is set to be the next high commissioner to New Delhi, sources said on Tuesday. The official procedure between New Delhi and Dhaka in this regard is underway. This comes as the current Bangladesh High Commissioner to New Delhi, Riaz Hamidullah, moves to Geneva as Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the UN Office in September-end. He was appointed as the envoy to India in February 2025 — during the interim administration headed by Professor Mohammed Yunus — navigating one of the toughest phases in bilateral ties in the wake of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ’s ouster. It is learnt that Dhaka had moved the proposal for Siam’s appointment as the new envoy in July this year, and the agrement was cleared on Tuesday morning — after the process lasted a little over two months. As per diplomatic norms, the host government has to approve the agrement for the appointment of a foreign ambassador. Earlier, India had given the assent to Hamidullah’s appointment to New Delhi after two months and 20 days, as per sources. Siam, who joined the diplomatic service in 1995, has served in Bangladeshi missions in Bangkok, Jakarta, Manchester and Milan, besides being Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN Offices in Vienna and to OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) Fund. He is known as the ears of the present dispensation in Dhaka, helmed by BNP’s (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) Tarique Rahman. Siam’s appointment has taken place against the backdrop of negotiations between New Delhi and Dhaka for a possible India visit by Rahman sometime in November — his first bilateral visit here since being elected the Bangladesh Prime Minister in February this year. Earlier, India had extended an invitation to Rahman as the Chair of the (BIMSTEC Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) grouping, to attend an outreach session at the recent BRICS Summit. However, the visit could not take place over tough exchanges that broke out after Hasina had held a virtual press interaction on August 5, sources said. In April this year, India had appointed former Union Minister Dinesh Trivedi, a veteran politician from West Bengal, as India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Both sides are making efforts to reset bilateral ties — especially in the wake of demands for the extradition of Hasina, who has been in Delhi since August 2024 after being ousted following widespread protests.