Dinesh Trivedi, a former Union minister and veteran politician from West Bengal, is likely to be appointed India’s next High Commissioner to Bangladesh, official sources confirmed.

While there is no formal announcement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) yet, a political appointment to the key diplomatic post in Dhaka would mark a deviation from the recent past.

This comes amid efforts to reset bilateral ties after the new Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was formed in February following elections.

Earlier this month, Pranay Verma, a 1994-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was serving as India’s High Commissioner in Dhaka since September 2022, was named as the next Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union.

Even as a formal announcement is yet to be made, BJP’s information and technology department head Amit Malviya, who is also co-incharge of the party’s West Bengal unit, congratulated Trivedi Sunday. “Congratulations to Dinesh Trivedi, senior BJP leader, former Union Minister and Barrackpore MP, for being appointed as India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh,” he said in a post on X.

Former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu also congratulated Trivedi in a post on X. “He brings with him valuable experience, a deep understanding of governance, and a balanced approach to policy matters. At a time when India-Bangladesh relations are of great importance, I am confident he will contribute meaningfully to further strengthening our ties,” he said.

A former Union Railways Minister and Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare, Trivedi has close to three decades of experience as a parliamentarian; he was awarded the ‘Outstanding Parliamentarian’ award in 2016. With his roots in student politics, he has been a member of both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He was earlier with the Congress, Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress, before joining the BJP in 2021.

Earlier this month, during the visit of Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman — the first high-level political outreach to Delhi by the new government in Dhaka — External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated “India’s desire to engage constructively with the new government and further strengthen bilateral ties”.

The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry also “reiterated its request to extradite Sheikh Hasina and her Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to Bangladesh”. Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been in Delhi since August 2024 after being ousted following widespread protests.