DHAKA / NEW DELHI - Bangladesh's President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for the formation of an interim government following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The president also ordered the release of jailed former prime minister and key opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia, said a press release from Bangabhaban, the official residence of the president of Bangladesh.

"The decision to dissolve the parliament was taken following the president's discussions with the three chief of staffs of armed forces, leaders of different political parties, representatives of civil society and leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement," said the press release.

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Shamsuddin Dider, member of the media wing of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, told Xinhua that the party's chief Khaleda Zia has already been released.

The release order came a day after her archrival Hasina resigned and military took power. Hasina fled the country on Monday amid violent protests in the South Asian country.

An interim government will be set up to run Bangladesh after Hasina's resignation, according to army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman.

Zaman made the remarks in a broadcast to the nation on state television on Monday afternoon. He confirmed earlier media reports on Hasina's resignation.

"We would now go to the president to form an interim government," said Zaman.

Hasina, 76, took office for her fourth straight five-year term as the country's prime minister in January this year after her ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections. 

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Hasina arrived in India on Monday evening, confirmed Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar when speaking in parliament's upper house Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

This was the first time that the Indian government confirmed Hasina's presence in the country, after she fled Bangladesh on Monday following large scale violence.

The minister told federal lawmakers that Hasina had sought India's approval to come to the country.

"At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India. We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from the Bangladesh authorities. She arrived yesterday evening in Delhi," Jaishankar said.

Hasina is likely to stay in India until Britain grants her asylum, according to local television news channel Republic World.