DHAKA, June 7, 2026 — India will send a national team to Bangladesh for the first time since relations between the two countries deteriorated following the political upheaval in Dhaka in August 2024, marking a potential thaw in sporting exchanges that had become an unexpected casualty of broader diplomatic tensions.
The Indian men’s youth handball team is scheduled to compete in the International Handball Federation (IHF) Trophy 2026, which begins June 10 at the Shaheed Captain M. Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium in Dhaka. The tournament will bring together teams from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Yemen, the Maldives and Afghanistan and will run through June 14.
The participation is significant because it will be the first Indian team to travel to Bangladesh since the fall of the Awami League government on Aug. 5, 2024, an event that triggered a sharp downturn in bilateral relations and led to disruptions in visa issuance, sporting exchanges and several areas of people-to-people contact.
Over the past two years, sports had increasingly become entangled in political and diplomatic considerations. Indian teams either declined or failed to secure clearance to participate in some events hosted in Bangladesh, while several bilateral engagements remained uncertain.
Among the most notable casualties was India’s planned white-ball cricket tour of Bangladesh. The series, originally scheduled for 2025 and featuring three One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals, was postponed after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sought a deferral, citing the absence of government clearance. The tour has since been rescheduled for September 2026.
According to the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s announced itinerary, the Indian team is expected to arrive in Dhaka on Aug. 28. The ODI matches are scheduled for Sept. 1, 3 and 6, followed by T20 internationals on Sept. 9, 12 and 13.
The decision to proceed with both the handball tournament and the cricket tour comes after political developments in Bangladesh earlier this year. Following the 13th parliamentary election in February, officials and sports administrators from both countries have signaled a willingness to resume normal sporting relations.
The upcoming handball tournament may appear modest compared with high-profile cricket contests, but sports officials say it carries symbolic importance because it represents the first concrete example of India reversing its reluctance to send a national team to Bangladesh since bilateral relations entered a period of strain.
The tournament itself is part of the IHF Trophy structure, a global development program designed to strengthen handball in emerging nations and provide young players with international competitive experience.
According to the International Handball Federation, the South and Central Asia region has been grouped into Zone II under the Asian qualification structure. The Dhaka event serves as a qualifying competition for the continental phase of the IHF Trophy, with the eventual champion advancing to the next stage of Asian competition.
“The Zone II (South Central Asia) men’s youth and junior tournaments of the IHF Trophy Asia will be staged in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 10 to 14 June 2026,” the International Handball Federation said in its event announcement. The federation added that the competition “serves as a qualification event for the Continental Phase of the IHF Trophy Asia.”
In the Under-20 competition, teams have been divided into two groups. India, Nepal and Yemen will compete in Group A, while hosts Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the Maldives will play in Group B. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals before the final on June 14.
The Under-18 category will be contested in a round-robin format, with the team finishing atop the standings crowned champion.
For Bangladesh, the event offers an opportunity to showcase its growing role in regional sports administration. Dhaka has increasingly hosted youth and development tournaments in recent years as part of efforts to broaden the country’s sporting footprint beyond cricket.
The tournament also comes at a time when both Bangladesh and India are seeking areas of cooperation despite continuing political disagreements. Sports diplomacy has historically played an important role in South Asia, where athletic exchanges often serve as confidence-building measures during periods of diplomatic uncertainty.
Cricket remains the most visible indicator of that trend. The rescheduling of India’s white-ball tour, combined with the decision to send a handball team to Dhaka this month, suggests that sporting contacts between the two neighbors may be returning to a more normal footing after nearly two years of disruption.
Whether the handball tournament marks the beginning of a broader normalization process remains to be seen. However, for now, the arrival of an Indian national team in Dhaka represents a notable development in a relationship that has experienced significant turbulence since 2024.
For athletes on both sides of the border, the focus will be on competition. For diplomats and political observers, however, the significance may extend well beyond the playing court.
