Jaisankar to represent India at Khaleda Zia’s Funal in Dhaka

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the funeral of former Bangladesh Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Khaleda Zia on Wednesday (December 31)

The announcement by the MEA on Tuesday (December 30) comes at a time when the relationship between the two countries has come under strain following the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in a violent student-led agitation.

“The External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, will represent the Government and people of India at the funeral of Begum Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He will accordingly visit Dhaka on 31 December 2025,” the MEA stated in a release.

Khaleda Zia died following a prolonged illness early on Tuesday, her personal physician had confirmed. She was 80. Zia breathed her last while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, according to her doctor Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.

Family members were present at the hospital at the time of her death, including her elder son Tarique Rahman, his wife Zubaida Rahman and their daughter Zaima Rahman. Also present were the wife of her late younger son Arafat Rahman Coco, Syeda Shamila Rahman, and Coco’s daughters Jahia Rahman and Jafia Rahman.

Zia’s younger brother Shamim Eskander and his wife Kaniz Fatema, her sister Selina Islam, and other close relatives were also at the hospital. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was among those present.

Zia had been admitted to Evercare Hospital on November 23 for routine medical tests, during which doctors detected a chest infection and placed her under observation.

Her condition deteriorated on November 27, leading to her transfer to the Coronary Care Unit. Earlier on Tuesday, Professor Hossain, part of the medical board treating her, described her condition as “very critical.” Zia had been suffering from several chronic ailments, including liver and kidney complications, heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.