'India ready to extend all possible support': PM Modi on ex-Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia's deteriorating health
80-year-old Khaleda Zia, who is the chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is admitted to a private hospital in Dhaka after a chest infection that affected her lungs and heart.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed concerns over the deteriorating health of former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia and prayed for her speedy recovery. In a post on micro-blogging website X (which was previously called Twitter), the prime minister said India is ready to provide all the necessary assistance to Bangladesh.
"Deeply concerned to learn about the health of Begum Khaleda Zia, who has contributed to Bangladesh’s public life for many years," PM Modi said. "Our sincere prayers and best wishes for her speedy recovery. India stands ready to extend all possible support, in whatever way we can."
80-year-old Zia, who is the chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is admitted to a private hospital in Dhaka after a chest infection that affected her lungs and heart. BNP leaders have said that her condition is 'extremely critical' and she has been put on ventilator.
"She is in a very critical condition. There is nothing more to do except seek prayers from the whole nation," BNP Vice-Chairman Advocate Ahmed Aazam Khan said outside the Evercare Hospital, where Zia is admitted.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also confirmed that Zia's health is deteriorating, urging the Bangladeshi nationals to pray for her recovery. "She is seriously ill, and our doctors are making every possible effort. Local and foreign specialists are involved in her treatment. They are trying their best," Alamgir said.
Zia, the wife of slain Bangladesh president Ziaur Rahman, has been suffering from multiple other health complications, including liver and kidney issues, diabetes, arthritis, and eye-related illnesses. Earlier in the year, Zia returned to the country from London on May 6 after spending four months for advanced medical treatment.
Her only son and BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, has been living in London since 2008. Her other son, Arafat Rahman, died of a cardiac arrest in 2025. BNP has re-emerged as the frontrunner in Bangladesh's changed political landscape after a student-led violent street protest toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
(With PTI inputs)
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