New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will represent India at the funeral of Begum Khaleda Zia, the three-time former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The state funeral will be held on December 31.

Muhammad Yusuf, who heads the Bangladesh interim government announced a three-day national mourning for Begum Zia.

The Indian government’s decision to send Jaishankar to attend Khaleda’s funeral is being seen by political analysts as New Delhi’s outreach to Dhaka at a time when bilateral relations with its south Asian ally has plummeted since Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a massive student uprising last year.

Hasina fled Bangladesh in August 2024, and has been in exile in India ever since. Bangladesh has asked India to send back Hasina, who has been sentenced to death for using force against protesters last year and also handed a 21-year jail sentence in corruption cases.

Zia, the first female Prime Minister of Bangladesh, died earlier in the day in Dhaka after a prolonged illness. She was 80.

Khaleda Zia’s son and BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who returned to Bangladesh last week after a self-imposed exile of 17 years, described his mother as the “mother of democracy” in Bangladesh.