Apart from deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Khaleda Zia was the only Prime Minister from Bangladesh whose political and institutional interactions with the Indian leadership stretched back to the 1970s and continued till the 21st century. Begum Zia, as she was known to the people of Bangladesh, started her public life as the spouse of then President of Bangladesh General Ziaur Rahman, and she was a witness to the diplomacy between India and Bangladesh during a difficult period in the 1970s.

Khaleda first found mention in Indian diplomatic records when Prime Minister Morarji Desai acknowledged her presence during a banquet in Dhaka during his visit to Bangladesh on April 16, 1979. It was a visit that took place during a rough patch in bilateral relations. Just three and half years ago, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in Dhaka along with most of his family members and Indira Gandhi, a well-wisher of Mujib, was out of power after being overthrown in the 1977 election. Earlier, President Nilam Sanjiva Reddy had held a banquet for President Zia on December 19, 1977, when he visited Delhi (without Khaleda) and was welcomed at the New Delhi airport by Prime Minister Desai.

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