New Delhi | Updated: June 25, 2026
The center has assigned Union Cabinet minister-equivalent status to India’s new High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, in the Table of Precedence for ceremonial protocol purposes.
According to an office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the status has been granted as a measure personal to Trivedi and does not amend the official Table of Precedence.
The memorandum stated that Dinesh Trivedi, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, has been assigned the equivalent status of Union Cabinet Minister in the Table of Precedence. It also clarified that the position is meant only for ceremonial functions.
The development comes after BJP leader and former Union minister Dinesh Trivedi presented his credentials to Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin, formally beginning his diplomatic assignment in Dhaka.
Trivedi was named India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh on April 27. He is the first politician to be appointed to this diplomatic post.
A Bangabhaban presidential palace spokesperson said the new Indian high commissioner presented his credentials to the president, marking the start of his assignment in Bangladesh. Before the ceremony, a contingent of the President Guard Regiment offered him a guard of honor.
Soon after the credential ceremony, Trivedi made his first public appearance at the Indian Visa Centre in Dhaka. During the visit, he announced the resumption of general travel visas for Bangladeshi nationals.
Trivedi said he was happy to announce the reopening of general travel visa services and added that visa applications could be submitted from June 28.
The travel visas had been halted nearly two years ago amid security concerns and strained relations between New Delhi and Dhaka during the Muhammad Yunus-led interim regime.
Dinesh Trivedi has succeeded career diplomat Pranay Kumar Verma. He arrived in Bangladesh through the Benapole-Petrapole land border on June 12.
Verma’s four-year tenure ended last month. His term witnessed major political changes in Bangladesh, including the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in a student-led uprising in August 2024 and a downturn in India-Bangladesh relations under the interim administration.
