India on Tuesday formally approved the appointment of Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam as the country’s next high commissioner to New Delhi, a source at the Bangladesh High Commission in the Indian capital confirmed to Daily Waadaa.

Dhaka decided to send its most senior diplomat to New Delhi after India appointed Dinesh Trivedi, a former federal minister and political appointee, as its high commissioner to Bangladesh.

Siam, a career diplomat who joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1995, is expected to take up the post in the coming weeks.

He will replace Riaz Hamidullah, who has served as Bangladesh’s high commissioner to India for about 17 months, a period marked by strained relations between the two neighbours.

Hamidullah is expected to be appointed Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva soon.

India’s agrément — the formal consent required for the appointment of a foreign envoy — was conveyed to the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon, according to people familiar with the matter.

The approval ends speculation that New Delhi had held up its consent to Siam’s appointment.

Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury, Bangladesh’s former permanent representative to the UN in New York, is expected to succeed Siam as foreign secretary, the people said.

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