Call it an expression of empathy between two political families exalted by history and scarred by tragedy, played out in front of the movers and shakers of Delhi at the hallowed Durbar Hall in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

It was January 2010, and the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for 2009 was being presented.

The recipient, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was yet to arrive at the venue but then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were already on the dais.

Suddenly, Sonia motioned to then information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni and passed on some instructions.

Within minutes, some of the seats in the front rows, occupied by several Union ministers, were vacated and members of Hasina’s family, seated far back, were invited to sit there.

This trailer of the bonhomie between the heirs of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mujibur Rahman, on display before the programme, seemed to expand into a full-length film during the next hour and a half.

Hasina and Sonia spoke at length about how the first families of the two neighbouring countries — both victims of political assassinations — had shared a bond since the early 1970s.

A short video the Congress shared on X on Monday bore testimony that the bond had survived the political upheavals of the last decade in both nations.

It shows Hasina hugging Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka as they call on her hotel in Delhi on Monday afternoon.

Hasina was in the capital as a state guest to attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in. The Gandhis spent more than an hour and a half with her before she left for Dhaka in the evening.

The Bangladesh Premier had met Rahul in September 2022 during a bilateral visit, but had not met his mother or sister for about five years. In the video, Hasina seems to be saying – the audio is a little unclear at that point – that she is meeting the duo after a long time.

"The Prime Minister (Hasina) went out of the meeting room to greet them (the Congress trio) and brought them inside,” said a source who was in the room where the meeting took place.

“She introduced each of us (Hasina's entourage) to the members of the Gandhi family and Rahulji shook hands with each one of us. Our PM was reminiscing about the old days and the bond between the two families."

After some time, the team accompanying Hasina — including foreign minister Hasan Mahmud, the PM's industry and investment adviser Salman F. Rahman, and junior commerce minister Ahsanul Islam Titu — excused themselves. Hasina and the Gandhis then spent more than half an hour together before Rahul left.

"He probably had some work and left early. Priyankaji and Soniaji stayed back for another 45 minutes," the source said.

While pleasantries and reminiscences dominated the conversation while Hasina's team members were in the room, it was learnt that politics did crop up briefly later.

"Soniaji mentioned the hard work put up by the siblings (during the Lok Sabha polls). Both Rahul and Priyanka contested this, saying their mother too had done a lot, which she declined to accept, saying she had hardly left Delhi to campaign," the source said.

Sajeeb Wazed Joy — Hasina's son, who lives in the US — too had a decade ago spoken eloquently about the two families' ties during an interview with this correspondent, suggesting the relationship continued down the generations.

Joy, born a year after Rahul, has stayed away from active politics. In the November 2013 interview, he said his family kept track of the political activities of Rahul. He described Rahul as "brave" for taking the plunge into politics at an early age.

Hasina's India connection — she spent six years in Delhi after the assassination of her father and several other family members in 1975 — has often gone against her in Bangladesh politics, with her being accused of "selling out" to Delhi. Yet Hasina has never tried to hide her attachment to India.

Former foreign secretary Krishnan Srinivasan, who had also served as the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, said that attachment had two strong historical reasons.

One, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had staunchly supported the 1971 Liberation War fought by East Pakistan under Mujib’s leadership; two, the hospitality Hasina had received in India.

"Hasina owes the Gandhi family a lot. She escaped assassination in 1975 as she was in West Germany with her sister Rehana,” Srinivasan recalled.

“As she could not return to Bangladesh after the tragedy, she came to India with her family and became a guest of the government. Her scientist husband, M.A. Wazed Miah, was engaged in research in the Atomic Energy Commission of India."

Hasina's comfort with the Congress establishment, some observers believe, is a key reason behind several difficult accomplishments of the bilateral relationship, such as transit rights through Bangladesh.

The change of guard in India in 2014 did cause some nervous moments in the policy establishment in Dhaka, but Hasina developed an equally firm relationship with the government of Narendra Modi, who keeps stressing that the bilateral relationship has entered a "golden phase."

While this is not the first time Hasina has met Gandhi family members after the BJP came to power in 2014, India’s ruling party is unlikely to be amused with the visuals showcasing Hasina's personal rapport with Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka.

"It has always been common practice across democratic countries that visiting heads of state meet the leaders of the Opposition. That practice got diminished in India in recent years for several reasons, including the absence of any leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha," a former diplomat said.

"But even if the ruling party leaders dislike it, there is very little they can do."

During her stay in Delhi, Hasina called on veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani, whom she considers "a true statesman", a source said.