Dinesh Trivedi.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Democracies are bound to have issues and disputes, and such differences should be resolved through interactions and dialogue, India’s High Commissioner-designate to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, said on Friday (June 12, 2026). Speaking to reporters while crossing from West Bengal’s Petrapole to Bangladesh’s Benapole, Mr. Trivedi called for cooperation in sectors such as health, technology and education, and advocated turning the two countries into a powerful economic bloc.
“We will proceed together by combining the hundred forty crore people of India and the twenty crore people of Bangladesh. Bangladesh and India are both strong democracies and in democracies there are bound to be issues but there has to be interactions to deal with them which is necessary. I will carry out my responsibilities in that context,” Mr. Trivedi said while speaking to the media in Benapole.
“We cannot become powerful in isolation from each other. Technology, education, health and sports are areas where we can work together and beat the world,” Mr. Trivedi said, urging the media in Bangladesh to project the combined strength of the populations of India and Bangladesh.
The relationship between the two countries has remained strained since the uprising of August 2024 that overthrew the government of Sheikh Hasina, who remains in India. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who took charge on February 17, is expected to begin his foreign visits this month, first travelling to Malaysia and then to China.
Mr. Trivedi, who has been active in public life since the late 1980s, is a former Union Minister for Railways and Health and Family Welfare and a three-term member of the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Trivedi, currently a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal, was appointed India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh on April 27 through an announcement by the Ministry of External Affairs.
His predecessor in Dhaka, Pranay Kumar Verma, has been appointed Ambassador of India to Belgium and the European Union. Mr. Trivedi was received at Benapole by Deputy Chief of Mission and current Chargé d’Affaires at the Indian High Commission, Pavan Badhe. Mr. Trivedi is expected to present his credentials to Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin shortly.
Published – June 12, 2026 02:21 pm IST
