Bangladesh has sent a formal request to India to extradite ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She fled to New Delhi in August amid the student-led protests that ended her 15 years in power.

The development has the potential to impact bilateral ties — already under strain since Hasina’s arrival on August 5 — and will need some deft diplomacy.

India received a note verbale from Bangladesh in connection with an extradition request for Sheikh Hasina, the ousted prime minister of India's neighbouring country where a caretaker government is in charge,

India also has the option of refusing Hasina’s extradition on the ground that the accusations made against her are not “in good faith in the interests of justice”, although this may further strain ties between New Delhi and Dhaka.

The interim government in Bangladesh has sent a diplomatic note and urged India to send deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina back to Dhaka. The 77-year-old Awami League leader has been living in India since August 5 when she fled Bangladesh amid massive protests that brought down her 16-year-old regime and forced her to flee.

Bangladesh on Monday sent a note verbale — a formal diplomatic communication — to New Delhi requesting Hasina's return to face "judicial proceedings" in her home country.

Sheikh Hasina has been living in exile in India since August when she fled Bangladesh amid the intensifying student-led protests.

Bangladesh has requested India's assistance in returning its former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, for a judicial process. The move comes amid tense relations between the countries following Hasina's ousting and subsequent refuge in India.