Sources have confirmed that India has evacuated all non-essential staff and their families from its embassy and consulates in Bangladesh. The move comes after massive protests over job quotas that forced Sheikh Hasina to resign as Bangladesh Prime Minister and flee.
Sources said the High Commission is still functioning with a limited number of staff while those who have returned to India have done so on a voluntary basis.
Despite the turmoil, key officials, including India’s High Commissioner in Dhaka, remain in their posts.
According to sources, the evacuation was carried out via commercial flights and the High Commission is still functioning, with dedicated personnel maintaining essential operations amid unrest in the region. Apart from the High Commission in the capital, India has assistant high commissions or consulates in several other cities, including Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet.
The protests against the country’s quota system for the families of freedom fighters gradually turned anti-government, with demonstrators demanding that Sheikh Hasina resign as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister. Nearly 300 people were killed after authorities used force to disperse the crowd and suppress the protests that spread across the country.
Sheikh Hasina, in power since 2009, resigned and fled the country on Monday after protesters attacked the prime minister’s residence.
On Monday evening, Hasina’s plane landed at an airbase near Delhi. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met the former prime minister, who is expected to leave for Britain, where she may seek political asylum.
Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman announced Hasina’s resignation in a broadcast on state television, saying the army would form an interim government. The Bangladesh Army has taken over security of Dhaka’s diplomatic neighbourhood, which was previously under the police. They are now responsible for guarding the residences of ambassadors and foreign missions in the Gulshan and Baridhara areas.
Earlier on Wednesday, a special Air India flight operated by an A321 Neo aircraft took off from Delhi without any passengers and returned from Dhaka carrying 199 adults and six infants.
Air India will start its scheduled flights to Dhaka with two daily flights from Delhi. Other airlines including Vistara and IndiGo will also operate their services to Dhaka as per schedule.
The Indian government has not issued any official statement on the withdrawal.