The Government has no “involvement” in the press conference to be addressed by Bangladesh’s deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday (August 4, 2026).

Speaking at the Ministry’s biweekly press briefing, MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the event is being organised by a “private media entity”.

India’s response came a day after Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kobir met Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka and cautioned that continued political activities by Ms. Hasina on Indian territory could “harm” bilateral ties.

“The interaction you refer to is being organised by a private media entity. The government has no involvement whatsoever in it. Neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed at the forum,” said Mr. Jaiswal in response to a question.

“Exclusive interactive session”

On Sunday (August 2, 2026), FCC president Dr. Waiel Awwad said Ms. Hasina would announce her plans to return to Bangladesh during the “exclusive interactive session” and answer a few questions from the media. Ms. Hasina has been based in India since fleeing Dhaka following a violent student-led uprising that toppled her government on August 5, 2024.

Following his meeting with Mr. Trivedi on Monday (August 3, 2026), Mr. Kobir said that “such activities” could “harm positive progress of bilateral relations between the two countries”.

India had earlier invited Mr. Rahman to participate in the upcoming BRICS summit. However, Bangladesh has not yet confirmed Mr. Rahman’s participation in the event, with diplomatic sources indicating that Dhaka has not appreciated the fact that the BRICS invitation was extended to Mr. Rahman in his capacity as the current Chair of BIMSTEC and not as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Mr. Jaiswal, however, clarified that Mr. Rahman already has an invitation for a bilateral visit to India in his capacity as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The invitation was extended soon after he was sworn in on February 17.

“As far as the BRICS summit is concerned, India has separately extended an invitation to the Bangladesh PM in his capacity as the current Chair of BIMSTEC to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. The invitation has been extended as per the standard practice being followed in BRICS for the outreach sessions,” said Mr. Jaiswal.

Diplomatic sources in Dhaka, however, said the controversy concerning Ms. Hasina’s press conference has ‘snowballed’ into a tense situation. A high-level diplomatic source in Dhaka said the announcement of Ms. Hasina’s press event had come even as Bangladesh was processing the invitation to the BRICS summit. “There will definitely be an impact,” said the source.

In a notification issued on Tuesday, the Press Information Department of the Government of Bangladesh urged media organisations in the country not to provide a platform for Ms. Hasina’s remarks. The notification referred to the death sentence pronounced against Ms. Hasina last year by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), a special court in Dhaka. It said the Bangladesh Government had observed that “unfortunately”, some news organisations were giving space to reports concerning Ms. Hasina and her party, the Awami League.

The party was formally banned by the Tarique Rahman government through an amendment to an anti-terrorism act in April 2026. Earlier, the interim government led by Mohammed Yunus had banned political activities of the Awami League and its student wing, the Chhatra League, during its August 2024-February 2026 tenure.

Continued political activities by deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from Indian territory “could harm” bilateral relations, the Government of Bangladesh conveyed to India on Monday (August 3, 2026) through Humayun Kobir, the Foreign Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Mr. Kobir met with Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi in Dhaka after Ms. Hasina’s August 5 ‘homecoming’ media event was announced here by the Foreign Correspondents Club.

“Adviser Kobir mentioned that such activities could harm the positive progress of bilateral relations between the two countries. The Indian High Commissioner assured that the matter would be duly considered, necessary inquiries would be made and efforts would be made in this regard,” the official news agency of Bangladesh UNB reported.

The meeting took place in the Prime Minister’s Office in Tejgaon, Dhaka, UNB said.

The report added that Dhaka expects India to ensure that no one, including Ms. Hasina, used “Indian territory to make political statements or conduct any activities aimed at creating instability within Bangladesh”.

The Indian High Commission, in a statement, said that the discussion between Mr. Trivedi and Mr. Kobir focused on “mutual interests” and “mutual benefits”.

“High Commissioner reiterated India’s intent to work positively with the Government of Bangladesh to advance the developmental aspirations of the peoples of India and Bangladesh,” said the Indian High Commission in a message.

Ms. Hasina, who has been based here since fleeing Dhaka on August 5, 2024, has given multiple telephonic and emailed interviews over the past three months expressing her desire to return to Bangladesh by the end of the year.

Earlier, on Sunday, the Foreign Correspondents Club announced that the media event featuring an audio message from Ms. Hasina would be held on August 5 and that the event titled ‘Sheikh Hasina’s Homecoming’ would also feature her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and several top functionaries of the Awami League.

Waeil Awwad, the club’s president, told The Hindu on Monday (August 3, 2026) that the event remains on track.

A month before the expected visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman for the India-chaired BRICS summit, the country’s deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club in New Delhi on Wednesday (August 5, 2026), the second anniversary of her arrival in India following the monsoon uprising of 2024 in Dhaka.

The media interaction will be addressed by Ms. Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and the former Education Minister of Bangladesh, Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel.

“In this exclusive engagement, Sheikh Hasina will address the international media virtually to announce her homecoming and outline her vision for Bangladesh. The session will also feature senior leaders of the Bangladesh Awami League and former Ministers, participating both in person and virtually, followed by an interactive Q&A,” said Waiel Awwad, president of the club.

India has invited Prime Minister Rahman to attend the BRICS summit. Mr. Rahman, who was sworn in on February 17, 2026, after his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a landslide victory in the election, is yet to acknowledge the invitation.

Ms. Hasina – who has been based here since fleeing Dhaka on August 5, 2024 – has recently given interviews to global media outlets, recollecting her experience of returning to Bangladesh on May 17, 1981, ending six years of exile that followed the assassination of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975. In her latest interview, given to AFP on July 29, she reiterated her plans to go home and said, “I may be killed. I may be arrested. I may be sent to prison. I am fully aware of my fate. Still, I want to go back because my people are calling me.”

Responding to reports of Ms. Hasina’s plans to return to Bangladesh this December, the BNP government’s Deputy Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain termed the announcements a “political gimmick”.

“Sheikh Hasina is talking about returning to the country in December only to boost the morale of her party workers. It is nothing but a political stunt,” Mr. Hossain said on Saturday.

The interim government led by Mohammed Yunus, which was in power between August 2024 and February 2026, had banned the Awami League’s political activities and its student wing Chhatra League. The BNP-dominated Bangladesh parliament formalised the ban through an amendment to an anti-terrorism law this April.

On Sunday (August 2, 2026), Ms. Hasina received support from her long-time critic-author, Taslima Nasreen, who addressed a press conference in Kolkata. Ms. Nasreen supported Ms. Hasina’s right to return to the political space in Bangladesh. Known for her books Lajja and My Girlhood, the writer urged “progressive people” in Bangladesh to pressure the Tarique Rahman government to lift the ban on Awami League.

“The Yunus government’s banning of the Awami League was absolutely not a right move. I want the ban on the Awami League lifted without delay. Its leaders and party workers should return to the country. Lots of Awami League leaders and workers have been killed. Progressive people of Bangladesh should pressurise Tarique Rahman to lift the ban on the Awami League,” said Ms. Nasreen, who also criticised Ms. Hasina for being soft on religious fundamentalists during her 15-year-long tenure.