India will withdraw its diplomats’ families and dependents from Bangladesh in the face of security threats as tension rises ahead of a February 12 general election, an Indian official said on Wednesday.
Campaigning begins on Thursday for Bangladesh’s election, which has sparked protests and counter-protests. Ties between the South Asian neighbours soured after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India in 2024, following deadly protests.
India’s past support for Hasina has frayed relations between the two neighbours since her overthrow.
India’s withdrawal move was part of “internal readjustments”, the official said, without elaborating. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed to Indian media reports of New Delhi’s decision.
It was not immediately clear when the families would return.
The foreign ministries of India and Bangladesh did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In December, India summoned Bangladesh’s high commissioner, or ambassador to voice its concern over what it called a deteriorating security situation there, particularly threats targeting the Indian mission in the capital, Dhaka.
Bangladesh’s ex-premier Hasina was sentenced to death in November after a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on the student-led uprising in 2024.
The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has repeatedly sought Hasina’s extradition to Bangladesh, while rejecting New Delhi’s concerns over violence targeting members of the minority Hindu community.
Meanwhile, a popular student leader of Bangladesh’s 2024 uprising, Sharif Osman Hadi, was wounded in an assassination attempt last month and died after being flown to Singapore for treatment.
Hadi was a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha and an outspoken critic of India. His death set off violent protests with angry mobs torching several buildings, including two major newspapers deemed to favour India, as well as a prominent cultural institution.
