No travel pass for Sheikh Hasina; she will be brought back only through the extradition treaty, says state minister
There is no scope to issue an ordinary passport or a travel pass to bring back former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is staying in India, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir has made clear. He said that, as an accused sentenced to death by a court verdict, she will be brought back to the country through the formal process of the bilateral prisoner extradition treaty existing between Dhaka and Delhi.
The state minister made the remarks on Thursday at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, answering journalists' questions after seeing off a visiting delegation led by Liu Haixing, minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The state minister made clear that, as Sheikh Hasina is a fugitive accused who has received the highest punishment, no conventional travel clearance will be applicable to her.
He said that, in light of the legal obligations of the prisoner exchange treaty between the two countries, she will be brought directly from Delhi and legal measures will be taken.
On the proposed trilateral corridor involving Bangladesh, China and Myanmar, the state minister said Bangladesh has no geopolitical hesitation or apprehension about such a large infrastructure linkage. Rather, if this route is realised, the whole territory will turn into a new hub of international trade, and Dhaka has full interest in joining this regional process.
However, he mentioned that ensuring a sustainable and permanent political solution to the Rohingya crisis must be a precondition for the successful implementation of this corridor.
Describing the visit of the high-level Chinese delegation to Dhaka as highly significant, Humayun Kabir expressed hope that through Liu Haixing's visit, the bilateral and strategic relations between Bangladesh and China will gain further momentum and a multidimensional shape in the coming days.
