Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held talks with his country's high commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, amid growing uncertainty over Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's proposed visit to New Delhi, Indian newspaper Anandabazar Patrika reported on Friday.

The meeting focused on the state of India-Bangladesh relations and their future, with New Delhi increasingly uncertain whether Tarique will visit India this year, the newspaper reported, citing diplomatic sources.

Tarique has received two invitations to visit New Delhi since taking office eight months ago but has yet to schedule a trip.

During that period, he has visited Malaysia and China and travelled to New York last month to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

He is also preparing for a four-day visit to Japan toward the end of October, according to sources in Dhaka cited by Anandabazar.

New Delhi had initially expected Tarique to visit in late November, following the BRICS summit. However, sources in India's Ministry of External Affairs told the newspaper that there was still no indication of such a visit taking place.

The uncertainty comes as bilateral relations remain strained over the political activities of ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina in India.

According to Anandabazar, relations between Modi's government and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) deteriorated further after Hasina held a press conference in New Delhi on August 5.

Earlier this week, Bangladesh's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir identified Hasina's activities and those of her Awami League party in India as the "main challenge" to Tarique's proposed visit.

Dhaka has repeatedly objected to India allowing Hasina to continue political activities from its territory.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed recently warned that India would have to reconsider its friendship with Bangladesh if it continued playing the "Hasina card."

Against this backdrop, Trivedi met Tarique on Monday before travelling to New Delhi for discussions with Modi.

The meeting between Modi and Trivedi, who assumed his diplomatic assignment in Dhaka in June, comes at a particularly sensitive moment for the two neighbours.

India's Ministry of External Affairs has reiterated that New Delhi wants a "constructive and forward-looking" relationship with Bangladesh.

However, the ministry has been unable to say whether the two prime ministers will meet before the end of the year, Anandabazar reported.

The diplomatic uncertainty also coincides with an approaching deadline for the two countries.

The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, a major bilateral agreement governing the distribution of river water, expires on December 12.

Bangladesh's Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie has expressed hope that a new agreement can be signed before the existing treaty expires.

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