India on Friday refused to be drawn out on the issue of any possible demand from Bangladesh for the extradition of former premier Sheikh Hasina, even as it acknowledged that work on development projects had stalled because of turmoil in the neighbouring country.
Hasina stepped down and fled to India on August 5, after weeks of student-led protests against her government. She is currently in a safe location, though Indian authorities have not given details of her whereabouts. Several opposition parties in Bangladesh have called on the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to seek her extradition.
Asked about the possibility of Bangladesh’s interim government seeking Hasina’s extradition, External affairs ministry (EAM) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said this is a matter that lies in the “realm of hypothetical issues.” He added, “As we stated earlier, the former prime minister of Bangladesh came to India at very short notice for reasons of safety. We have nothing further to add on that matter.”
Bilateral projects, he said, were impacted by the turmoil in Bangladesh. “Work on some of the projects has stalled…because of the law and order situation. Once the situation stabilises and normalcy is restored, we will engage in consultations with the interim government and see how best to take those forward and what sort of understanding we can reach on them,” Jaiswal added.
