A Bangladesh Air Force plane carrying former prime minister Sheikh Hasina landed at Hindon Airfield in Ghaziabad near Delhi on August 5. India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval welcomed Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana at the airport that evening.
The next day, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar told the country's parliament that Sheikh Hasina had sought permission from the Indian government to come to the country “temporarily” and only after it was granted, she set foot on Indian soil.
Since then, Sheikh Hasina has remained in India till date. The two sisters are staying together in a paramilitary guesthouse on the outskirts of Delhi. The Indian government has been completely silent on the exact “immigration status” of Sheikh Hasina in India.
Whether Hasina is currently staying in India on a special visa, or has been given political asylum – the Indian government is yet to clarify officially on this particular matter.
That is why the question comes, what exactly is the immigration status of Hasina’s stay in India at the moment, and how long can this status remain valid?
BBC Bangla, after speaking to several top government officials in Delhi, reported that Sheikh Hasina's diplomatic/official passport as prime minister of Bangladesh is still valid, and she can stay in India for at least one and a half months without a visa.
Indian officials say this complication does not exist in the case of Sheikh Rehana, as she is a British passport holder. So, she can stay in India virtually as long as she wants on an “on arrival” visa [a visa granted to British nationals after setting foot on Indian soil].
‘Situation still evolving’
Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had to face specific questions on this very issue at the regular weekly briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi on August 16.
It has been almost two weeks since former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina landed in Delhi. What is her (immigration) status? Is she in India on a regular visa? Or did she apply for political asylum? Or has she been kept under some form of house arrest or detention?
In response to these questions, Randhir Jaiswal had said, “We explained this last week that the former prime minister's visit to India was approved at a very short notice. This situation is still evolving.
“At the moment, we do not have anything new to inform about her (Sheikh Hasina's) plans.”
The spokesperson’s statement on August 16 was an exact echo of Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar's speech in Parliament ten days earlier.
On August 6, Jaishankar had said after Sheikh Hasina decided to resign on August 5, she wanted approval to come to India at a very short notice [for the moment]. At the same time, permission for flight clearance [for her plane] was also sought by the Bangladeshi authorities.
'Visa Free Regime'
Even after this explanation, the key question remains, then what exactly is Hasina’s basis for staying in India at this moment?
Several top officials in Delhi hinted that the basis of Hasina's present stay in India is the “Revised Travel Arrangement,” signed between India and Bangladesh.
This particular agreement was signed in Dhaka between Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi governments on July 15, 2018.
The MoU was signed on behalf of India by Brajraj Sharma, the then Special Secretary (Bangladesh and Myanmar) of the Ministry of Home Affairs. And the signatory on behalf of Bangladesh was Fariduddin Ahmed Chowdhury, the then Secretary of the Security Services Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The agreement, initially for five years, is to be renewed at regular intervals, which was done earlier this year.
Article 1(a) of the MoU clearly states that the two countries have mutually agreed to allow holders of diplomatic and official passports of both countries to stay for a period of 45 days without a visa [Visa Free Regime].
That is, according to this agreement, holders of diplomatic/official passports of Bangladesh can stay in India for 45 days without a visa. Meanwhile, holders of that special type of passport in India will get the same benefits in Bangladesh.
Incidentally, these diplomatic, official or service passports are issued to the officials of the state or government who have to travel abroad for diplomatic or official purposes.
When Sheikh Hasina resigned as the prime minister of Bangladesh and left the country, her diplomatic/official passport was still fully valid – but not revoked for whatever reason.
As a result, as long as that passport remains valid, according to the agreement between the two countries, she can technically stay in India for 45 days without any kind of visa.
An Indian government source also told BBC Bangla that India has similar agreements with 100 countries to allow diplomatic and official/service passport holders to stay in each other's countries without a visa, not just Bangladesh.
This period of stay without a visa is 90 days for most countries, and 45, 30 or 14 days in others. In the case of India and Bangladesh, this period is 45 days.
