S Jaishankar to attend Khaleda Zia's funeral amid strained ties with Bangladesh

Amid strained ties between India and Bangladesh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will attend the state funeral of Khaleda Zia, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), on December 31.

Zia's death comes on the heels of her son and BNP’s de facto chief, Tarique Rahman, returning to poll-bound Bangladesh after 17



years in exile.

The act is seen as New Delhi’s outreach to Dhaka at a time when India’s relationship with its South Asian ally has plunged, ever since Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student uprising last year.

Zia’s leadership - between 1991 and 1996, and 2001 and 2006 - was often seen as a counter to the Awami League’s closeness to Delhi.