India has not yet approved Bangladesh’s proposed appointment of Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam as the country’s next High Commissioner to New Delhi, Indian news outlet ThePrint reported Tuesday.

More than a month has passed since Dhaka sought New Delhi’s approval, known as agrément, for Siam’s appointment, according to the report.

Siam is currently Bangladesh’s foreign secretary and is one of the senior career diplomats at the foreign ministry. He previously served as Bangladesh’s ambassador to the United States.

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a country must receive approval from the host country before appointing its ambassador or high commissioner.

Bangladesh’s current High Commissioner to India, M Riaz Hamidullah, is expected to become the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva around mid-October, ThePrint reported.

The delay comes as relations between Bangladesh and India remain strained.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s planned visit to India in August did not take place. He also did not attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, where Bangladesh had been invited to the outreach session in its capacity as the current chair of BIMSTEC.

Despite the political tensions, the two countries have continued official-level engagement. A two-day Inter-Governmental Railway Meeting was held in Dhaka last week to discuss cross-border train operations.

India appointed Dinesh Trivedi as its High Commissioner to Bangladesh earlier this year. He took up the post in June.

The relationship between the neighboring countries deteriorated sharply after the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.

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