Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina should remain in India.

In an exclusive interview with Indian online news portal Firstpost, he said, "As far as Sheikh Hasina is concerned, many leaders leave their country and go live abroad, if she is out of the country — let her be out of the country. We all want Bangladesh to focus on normalcy."

Asked about what advice he would give to India and Bangladesh to navigate this period, he said, "First is to get stability into Bangladesh — first give people confidence — as far as Sheikh Hasina is concerned, these are political issues. It has to be decided in such a manner… Many leaders leave their country and go abroad. They then live abroad. What I would give priority to is [to ensure] Bangladesh remains stable."

Wickremesinghe, who also became Sri Lanka`s president under a similar situation when the then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to quit by a people`s agitation in 2022, also touched upon what Bangladesh`s focus should be.

"If Sheikh Hasina is out of the country, let her be out of the country. I think stability has to come quickly. The army may be necessary. We all want Bangladesh [to] focus on normalcy and on getting people to decide how [they] should lead the country," he said.

Hasina, whose current stay in India has become a contentious issue in Bangladesh, is set to face trial in Bangladesh for a slew of cases.

Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe, who became a president as a compromise, faces an electoral test on Saturday, when Sri Lanka votes in the presidential election.