Ties between India and Bangladesh frayed after Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, fled to Delhi amid violent protests that toppled her 15-year rule in 2024. Now the neighbors are taking steps toward reconciliation by reopening visa channels.
Bangladeshi diplomatic missions across India will fully reopen tourist visa services. India is resuming visa operations in Bangladesh in phases; the Indian High Commission is currently issuing medical and double-entry business visas. Full restoration across categories — including tourist, student and employment visas — is expected in the coming weeks.
Why were visa services suspended?
Bangladesh froze Indian tourist visas in December 2025 after violent protests outside Bangladeshi missions in New Delhi and other Indian cities over the lynching of a Hindu man, allegedly by an Islamist mob in Bangladesh. Officials cited security concerns ahead of Bangladesh’s February general election. During the suspension only business and employment visas were processed.
India had already curtailed most of its visa services in Bangladesh in late 2024 after unrest following Hasina’s ouster, and closed visa centres in Dhaka and Chittagong in late 2025, also citing security reasons.
India, Bangladesh seek “recalibration”
Tensions began to ease after Bangladesh elected a new government in February, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman promising a reset of ties with India. Longstanding disputes — over river water resources, the political fate of Hasina’s Awami League, and border management — remain on the agenda.
“Both India and Bangladesh are seeking a recalibration of bilateral ties. The unfreezing of visas signals policy intent to that effect. But this is the start of a trust‑building exercise, not an end,” said Avinash Paliwal, reader in international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He added that negotiations on issues such as water-sharing, trade imbalance and the Awami League’s situation will determine whether a true reset is under way.
Paliwal noted that Bangladesh’s new leadership under the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now have mandates and political space to manoeuvre toward better relations.
Practical steps, obstacles ahead
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, a former Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, called the visa move a people-centric step that will benefit thousands who travel for medical treatment. He said other measures are also being taken to improve ties: restarting bus and passenger train services to address connectivity; removing some non-tariff barriers to boost trade; and reviving projects frozen by the interim Bangladeshi government. These projects and talks could cover river water sharing, illegal migration, the treatment of Hindus, security, counter-terrorism and border management. “There are over 60 bilateral mechanisms for engagement on a gamut of issues,” Chakravarty said.
Changing public perceptions
Public opinion remains a major hurdle. In Bangladesh, many still view India as aligned with Hasina’s Awami League. In November 2025 Hasina was sentenced to death over a violent crackdown on protests that left more than 1,400 dead; she remains in exile in India, and Dhaka protested when she spoke publicly in January.
In India, concerns focus on the treatment of the Hindu minority and the direction of Bangladeshi domestic politics. Sreeradha Datta, a Bangladesh expert at the Jindal School of International Affairs, called the reopening of visas “a start” that will “create goodwill.” She added that Rahman will need to persuade sections of Bangladeshi society that closer cooperation with India is beneficial, noting the two countries’ mutual dependence. “There is no need to rush, but both sides will have to be cognisant of each other’s needs and expectations,” she said.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn