India’s current government wants to build a people-centric relationship with Bangladesh, Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi said on Wednesday during a meeting with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad at the parliament speaker’s office.

The speaker said people-to-people ties should form the foundation of the India–Bangladesh relationship. He expressed hope that bilateral ties would advance on the basis of mutual respect, independence and sovereignty.

Ahmad noted that Bangladesh and India’s relationship had always moved forward through various ups and downs, adding that the historical context of bilateral ties had also changed over time.

He said the previous Awami League government had undermined democratic rights through staged elections in 2008, 2014, 2018 and 2024. The 2024 student-led mass uprising had paved the way for a renewed democratic journey in Bangladesh, he added.

Under Sheikh Hasina, relations between India and Bangladesh had been reduced to government-to-government ties, the speaker said.

Trivedi said the Indian government was working to meet the expectations of the people of both countries through bilateral relations.

The high commissioner invited Ahmad to visit India on behalf of the Lok Sabha speaker. He also stressed the need for more parliamentary delegation visits between the two countries.

The two sides discussed bilateral relations, exchanges of parliamentary delegations, the Rohingya crisis and their rehabilitation, as well as sports and cultural exchanges.