UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it was closely liaising with India to "monitor and respond" to the situation as it unfolds in Bangladesh. The two countries' foreign ministers discussed the issue earlier.
S Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs posted in social media a day back he was in receipt of a call from David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary of the UK where both of them, during the notoriously short conversation brought up the situation pertaining to Bangladesh and West Asia.
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The FCDO sources confirmed the call but went silent since then regarding speaking in detail about this being a possible visit by Sheikh Hasina, the exiled Bangladesshi Prime Minister to London or any other range of discussions.
An FCDO spokesperson said: "The UK government is in contact with the Government of India and regional counterparts to monitor and respond to events in Bangladesh."
The department also referred to last week's call by Lammy for "a full and independent UN-led investigation into recent events".
There is wide speculation about Hasina's plans after she leaves Bangladesh, as she took asylum in India after bloody clashes in Dhaka. She is reported to be staying in a safe house in Delhi.
Jaishankar told the Rajya Sabha that Hasina had asked for immediate clearance to visit India, and Bangladesh followed it up with a request for flight clearance.
London is said to be her favourite place. Hasina's niece, Tulip Siddiq, the UK member of parliament for Hampstead and Highgate and junior Treasury minister, resides in North London.
Despite this, government sources in the UK are claiming to have fretted over an asylum claim from Hasina. They further warn that asylum cannot be claimed from abroad and underline that all applications are considered on a case-by-case basis. Elsewhere, it is given in the 'Immigration Rules' that people in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they arrive.
As strategics say, with this multi-optioned complex situation, one resolution could be that Hasina be allowed temporary leave to come to the UK and stay in self-imposed exile. This may, however, be difficult because of family relations with an incumbent minister of the UK government.
Student protests last month against a highly contentious job quota system went too far in Bangladesh and escalated into violent anti-government demonstrations, bringing an end to the Awami League regime. The turmoil saw over 200 people die and brought in place a new caretaker government under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
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