India wants ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to return to Bangladesh in the exact manner she departed on August 5, 2024—aboard a Bangladesh military aircraft under the direct responsibility of the Bangladesh Army—while securing formal assurances that she will be granted the right to appeal and undergo a fresh, transparent trial against her July 2024 uprising death sentence. According to a report published by BBC Bangla, New Delhi has placed these two primary conditions at the center of backchannel discussions following Hasina's recent Reuters interview expressing her intent to return in December 2026.

Citing senior Indian Ministry of External Affairs and military sources, the report notes that after failing to secure third-country asylum for Hasina, India views a negotiated legal return as the only viable path to alleviate growing international criticism and bilateral strain. Indian officials stated they cannot hand her over as an ordinary prisoner to face immediate execution, fearing negative diplomatic fallout among neighboring leaders in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Instead, New Delhi wants international observers and global media to monitor a renewed judicial process, alongside security guarantees from the Bangladesh Army upon her arrival.