New Delhi, June 25 -- The government has given the status of cabinet minister to India's high commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, in a signal of the importance that New Delhi attaches to relations with Dhaka at a time when the two sides are working to repair their ties, people familiar with the matter said.

Trivedi is the first political appointee to be chosen for the key position in Dhaka in almost five decades. A notification issued by the Union home ministry on Wednesday stated that Trivedi "has been assigned the equivalent status of Union Cabinet Minister in the Table of Precedence".

While there have been precedents of ambassadors, mostly political appointees, being given the status of cabinet minister, even long-time watche...