New Delhi, June 26 -- 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 relations, 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 watchers of Indian diplomacy were hard pressed to cite instances from recent years. For instance, late Congress leader Siddhartha Shankar Ray was given the status of cabinet minister when he served as ambassador to the US during 1992-1996. It has also been given to a handful of former Union ministers on being appointed as envoys....