After Bangladesh rules out passport for Hasina, India says ‘travel document’ needed
By Saghir Hussain ·
Bangladesh has effectively closed the door on issuing a passport to ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, leaving India to navigate a diplomatic grey zone over her continued stay in New Delhi.
The interim government in Dhaka has ruled out providing a travel document to Hasina, who fled to India in August after weeks of student-led protests forced her resignation. Without a valid Bangladeshi passport, her legal status in India rests on a “travel document” — a phrase New Delhi is now using to describe the paperwork required for her to remain or move elsewhere.
Diplomatic Limbo
India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, described the passport requirement for any future extradition request as a “technical issue.” He added: “Obviously, for the travel of people, you need a travel document.” The careful wording signals Delhi’s reluctance to either grant formal asylum or force Hasina’s return to a country where she faces murder and corruption investigations.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and several former ministers over the killing of protesters during the July-August uprising. Dhaka has formally sought her extradition, but the absence of a passport complicates the legal mechanics. International law generally requires a valid travel document for extradition proceedings, creating a standoff that suits neither capital.
UK Stake in the Balance
The impasse matters to Britain. The UK is Bangladesh’s third-largest export destination, with garments accounting for the bulk of £3.2bn in annual trade. British high-street retailers — Marks & Spencer, Primark, Next — rely on stable supply chains from Dhaka. Prolonged political uncertainty risks disruption at Chittagong port and factory floors, ultimately feeding into UK inflation and shop-floor prices.
There is a human dimension, too. Britain’s Bangladeshi diaspora, concentrated in Tower Hamlets, Oldham, and Birmingham, watches events closely. Community leaders report anxiety over remittance flows and the safety of relatives caught in Bangladesh’s volatile security climate. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has maintained a low public profile, but officials privately acknowledge that a messy extradition — or a perception of Indian protection for a discredited autocrat — could radicalise sections of the British Bangladeshi youth.
Meanwhile, the UK’s own tech strategy has a quiet stake. British fintech firms and digital identity providers have piloted projects with Bangladesh’s a2i programme, the government’s digital transformation arm. A stable, reform-minded administration in Dhaka is essential for those partnerships to scale. Chaos serves no one’s innovation agenda.
What Comes Next
India holds the cards. It can issue a certificate of identity or similar travel document, allowing Hasina to stay — or to travel to a third country, possibly the UAE or Saudi Arabia, where Gulf allies have historically sheltered South Asian leaders. But doing so risks accusations of harbouring a fugitive from justice, damaging Delhi’s credibility on rule-of-law grounds just as it courts Western partnerships.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, has insisted his government will pursue justice through legal channels. Whether that includes pressing Interpol for a Red Notice remains unclear.
For London, the calculus is cold: stability in the Bay of Bengal protects trade, remittances, and a diaspora that votes in marginal UK seats. The government’s silence may be diplomatic prudence — or a missed chance to shape an outcome that serves British interests.
If Delhi and Dhaka cannot agree on a piece of paper, the fallout lands on factory workers in Leicester, families in Sylhet, and tech startups in Shoreditch. Who blinks first?