Published : 25 Jun 2026, 09:09 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:18 AM
Dinesh Trivedi has officially assumed office as the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh at a crucial turning point for mending bilateral ties between New Delhi and Dhaka.
The new envoy kick-started his Dhaka assignment on Thursday by presenting his credentials to President Mohammed Shahabuddin at the Bangabhaban.
An official from the president's office said the diplomat received a ceremonial guard of honour at the presidential palace in the afternoon before heading in to present his diplomatic papers, according to established state traditions.
Shortly after the ceremony, Trivedi visited the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka, where he announced the resumption of tourist visas that had been suspended for nearly two years.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dispatched the seasoned politician to Bangladesh as part of efforts to bridge the distance that opened up in India-Bangladesh relations after the fall of the Awami League government in the 2024 July Uprising.
Analysts say the decision to send a former union minister and influential West Bengal politician, breaking from the tradition of posting Indian Foreign Service officers to the Dhaka mission, signals “a new approach to the tone and method of diplomacy”.
The Indian government issued an order on Wednesday granting Trivedi the rank of minister, applicable for formal and protocol occasions.
Trivedi speaks Bangla and has a strong grasp of the history, heritage and culture of both Bengals. He is also known as a sitar player.
Born to Gujarati parents Hiralal Trivedi and Urmilaben Trivedi, he studied at a boarding school in Himachal Pradesh before graduating in commerce from St Xavier's College in Kolkata and completing an MBA at the University of Texas.
A seasoned figure in West Bengal politics, Trivedi entered public life through the Congress in the 1980s before joining the Janata Dal and serving in India’s upper house of parliament from 1990 to 1996.
When Mamata Banerjee founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998, he joined as its first general secretary and went on to serve as a Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP from 2002 to 2008.
In 2009, Trivedi won the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat on a Trinamool ticket and became health and family welfare minister in Manmohan Singh's government.
After Mamata vacated the railways portfolio following Trinamool's 2011 West Bengal Assembly victory, he took over the ministry, only to be removed from the post later.
He stood again from Barrackpore in 2019 under Trinamool but lost to BJP's Arjun Singh, after which the party sent him back to the Rajya Sabha.
Relations with Trinamool soured soon after. He resigned from the party on Feb 12, 2021 and joined the BJP on Mar 6 that year.
