Dhaka resumed fill visa and consular services at its missions in India, including New Delhi, Agartala and Siliguri on Saturday.

The development came days after Tarique Rahman took oath as the Prime Minister of the neighbouring country.

After the fall of the Awami League government, in the aftermath of the July 2024 uprising, ties between Bangladesh and India, close friends when the deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was at the helm, has been on a downward slide.

Saturday’s development is being seen as a positive development in India-Bangladesh relations, which have historically been close but faced challenges under the Yunus interim government.

The restoration of visa services is expected to ease people-to-people contacts and boost economic exchanges between the neighbours.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday welcomed the initiative to resume India-Bangladesh bus service connecting Agartala with Kolkata via Dhaka.

“I welcome the move to resume Indo-Bangla bus service connecting Agartala with Kolkata via Dhaka. The uncertainty is over with the formation of an elected government in Bangladesh. This is a good sign in bilateral ties. We hope other issues will also be addressed,” he told reporters.

Contacted, Manoranjan Debnath, the manger of the international bus service, said the Indo-Bangla bus service has been suspended for one year due to political turmoil in Bangladesh.

“Due to this, the number of passengers had fallen to an all-time low, and the visa problem had prompted us to shut down the service. With the situation improving in Bangladesh, we want to resume bus service by next week,” he said.

Debnath added, “Today, the bus left Krishannagar bus depot (Agartala) for Dhaka as a trial run. This will continue for two or three days. Once the system is stable, we will restart bus service thrice in a week”.

Under the interim government led by Mohammad Yunus, Bangladesh grew close to Pakistan, while anti-India sentiments continued to rise. Under the watch of the Yunus administration, several anti-India radicals were released from prison.

Facing serious threats to its diplomatic missions, India started suspending visa services in Bangladesh from December 17, 2025, starting with the closing of the Indian Visa Application Centre in Dhaka.

India had initially suspended visas for the first time on August 8, 2024 in the midst of the July uprising and three days after erstwhile Hasina's fled to India, where she has been in exile since then.

Bangladesh had suspended operations at all Indian Visa Application Centers (IVACs) in Bangladesh, citing the "unstable situation" as the cause.

This was the first such nationwide suspension of visa services in Bangladesh.

Services were partially restored after that, but were restricted to certain types, like medical and double-entry visas.

The next round of visa suspensions came in November 2025, when, following anti-India protests in the aftermath of the murder of Bangladesh radical leader Osman Hadi, IVACs were steadily shut down, with the Dhaka IVAC closing on November 17, followed by those in Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi closing by November 22.

In a tat-for-tat move, the interim regime in Bangladesh suspended visa servicing in its consular missions in New Delhi, Kolkata, Agartala and others.

After BNP’s landslide victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Rahman after he took oath as the next PM of the neighbouring country and extended a formal invitation to visit India at the earliest convenience, along with his family.

The invitation was conveyed in a personal letter handed over by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla when he was in Dhaka to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

PM Modi congratulated Rahman on the BNP's electoral success, calling it a reflection of public trust in his leadership, and expressed eagerness to collaborate on connectivity, trade, energy, and regional cooperation.