Published : 22 Sep 2026, 06:09 PM
Updated : 22 Sep 2026, 06:09 PM
India has formally approved the Bangladesh government’s decision to appoint Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam as the country’s next high commissioner in New Delhi, according to Hindustan Times.
The Indian government has conveyed its formal consent, or agrément, to Siam’s appointment to Bangladesh’s foreign ministry in Dhaka, the Indian English-language daily reported on Tuesday.
Hindustan Times said the development ends “recent speculation” that India had held up its consent to the appointment.
The Print reported last week that New Delhi was delaying formal approval for Siam’s appointment as Bangladesh’s next high commissioner.
A career diplomat who joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1995, Siam is expected to replace M Riaz Hamidullah in New Delhi within the next few weeks.
The government is sending Hamidullah to Geneva as Bangladesh’s new permanent representative to the United Nations.
Siam served as Bangladesh’s ambassador to the United States for less than a year before becoming foreign secretary in June 2025. He was previously ambassador to Austria in 2023-24 and the Philippines from 2017-21.
He has also served as Bangladesh’s first consul general in Milan, assistant high commissioner in Manchester, and as a junior diplomat in Indonesia and Thailand.
In Dhaka, he served as chief of protocol, director general of the Europe and EU wing, and director at the foreign secretary’s office.
Hindustan Times reported that the approval comes as Bangladesh and India seek to rebuild bilateral ties.
Dhaka decided to send its most senior diplomat to New Delhi after India appointed former minister and politician Dinesh Trivedi as its high commissioner to Bangladesh, the newspaper said.
Relations became strained during the interim government following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024.
After the BNP government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman came to power this year, both sides took initiatives to normalise ties. However, a news conference by Hasina in India complicated the situation again.
India had invited Tarique for a bilateral visit and to attend the BRICS summit as chair of BIMSTEC. Bangladesh did not attend the summit, while a bilateral visit remains pending.
In this context, Siam will work on efforts to rebuild ties and help prepare for a possible visit to India by Tarique.
