Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar conveyed India's deepest condolences to Acting Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Tarique Rahman Zia on the passing away of his mother and country's first woman PM Khaleda Zia at her state funeral in Dhaka, the top Indian diplomat said in a post on X.
Jaishankar handed over a personal letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Rahman at the funeral.
"I am confident that her (Khaleda Zia's) ideals will be carried forward under your able leadership of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and will continue to serve as a guiding light to ensure a new beginning and the enrichment of the deep and historic partnership between India and Bangladesh," the letter from Modi said.
Jaishankar's brief trip to Dhaka for the funeral of the two-term PM marks his first visit to Bangladesh since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power in street protests in August 2024.
Elaborating on Jaishankar's visit, Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, said in a social media post that the top diplomat recognised 80-year-old Khaleda Zia's contribution to democracy in Bangladesh.
Notably, Jaishankar expressed optimism about the strengthening of India-Bangladesh relations following the democratic transition through the upcoming parliamentary election (and the national referendum) scheduled to take place on 12 February. The election would be the first national poll in Bangladesh since August 2024.
No meeting took place between Interim Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and Jaishankar during the visit.
In the pictures shared by Hamidullah, Jaishankar was also seen exchanging greetings with Touhid Hossain, the interim Foreign Advisor of Bangladesh. No formal meeting took place between the two top diplomats during the visit.
In another social media post, Hamidullah said that Jaishankar and BNP's Acting President discussed the prospects of scripting a "new chapter" in bilateral ties, based on shared interests and mutual interdependence.
The Indian top diplomat exchanged pleasantries with foreign ministers of Nepal and Bhutan, as well as with the Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly, all of who were in Dhaka for the state funeral, according to pictures shared by Indian and Bangladeshi official accounts.
On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Modi had also expressed India's condolences on the passing away of Zia.
"As the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh, her important contributions towards the development of Bangladesh, as well as India-Bangladesh relations, will always be remembered," PM Modi said in a social media post.
I recall my warm meeting with her in Dhaka in 2015. We hope that her vision and legacy will continue to guide our partnership, the Indian PM said.
At a regular briefing in Delhi on Friday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal expressed India's support to Tarique Rahman, who returned from a 17-year political exile to Dhaka last week.
"As you are aware, India supports free, fair, and inclusive elections in Bangladesh. This development must be seen in or should be seen in that context," Jaiswal told the briefing.
Khaleda Zia, who had been suffering from a prolonged illness, passed away five days after her son's return.