NEW DELHI, Aug. 19—The new Government of Bangladesh, in a conciliatory gesture toward its giant neighbor, made an appeal tonight for “friendship and cooperation” with India.

The appeal was delivered in New Delhi by Shamsur Rahman, the High Commissioner, or Ambassador, of Bangladesh, during a call on Foreign Secretary Kewal Singh.

A spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs disclosed that the call had been made, but did not comment on it. On Saturday, the day after the military coup d'état that changed Bangladesh's government, New Delhi had said that it “cannot remain unaffected by these political developments in a neighboring country.”

Moreover, both the Government and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi have deplored the death of Sheik Mujubur Rahman, the former President, who was killed early Friday.

As a sign of a return toward normality, the new Government of President Khondakar Mushtaque Ahmed announced today that it was opening the international airport at Dacca, the capital, to at least one flight from India tomorrow, and that other scheduled services would begin resuming Thursday.

Dozens of foreign correspondents have been waiting in Calcutta and Bangkok, Thailand, to enter the country, which was the eastern wing of Pakistan until 1971 when it separated and became independent after a long, bloody struggle.

“Life is quickly returning to normal,” said the Bangladesh radio, which is monitored in India. It reported the arrival of a commercial ship at the eastern port of Chittagong, and said that the seven‐hour curfew — from 10 P.M. to 5 A.M. — was now in effect only in Dacca and three other cities.

Except for limited diplomatic traffic, the country's borders and its lines of international communication remained virtually closed today. Reports filtering out of the country however, confirmed, that President Mushtaque Ahmed's Government had restored order across the country.

In his call on the Indian Government, the Bangladesh envoy stressed the new Government's intention “to abide by all bilateral and international agreements,” the Indian spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the envoy also confirmed that the name of the country had not, as previously reported, been changed from “The People's Republic of Bangladesh” to “The Islamic Republic of Bangladesh.” The distinction is important to many people in this predominantly Hindu country, whose enmity with Pakistan is based upon their religious difference.

In diplomatic circles, speculation centers on how much of a change the new Government will bring to the impoverished country, with skeptics pointing out that the leadership consists in large part of men who were in Sheik Mujib's government. Some believe that the new Cabinet excluded only those ministers regarded as particularly corrupt, or very close to Sheik Mujib, who gained a reputation as a bad administrator, despite the wide popular appeal he once enjoyed.