CAUGHT NAPPING

India could now face renewed challenges in the northeast

- SANJIB KR BARUAH

The developments in Bangladesh caught many governments by surprise, but it left a nagging concern for Indian diplomacy. Did India play its cards wrong by giving unflinching support to Sheikh Hasina despite the sentiment in Bangladesh against her autocratic policies? Was Indian diplomacy and strategic policy execution outpaced by the developments? Hasina’s exit symbolised the failure of a major Indian initiative to retain a friendly relationship with Bangladesh.

A new regime that possibly could be inimical to Indian interests could create a situation similar to the Line of Control-Line of Actual Control, resulting in a huge diversion of men and material to guard the borders. Moreover, the narrow ‘Chicken’s Neck’stretch that connects the Indian mainland with the northeast would be very vulnerable from the military point of view. It was Hasina who had cracked down on the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) insurgents who had sneaked into Bangladesh after being evicted from Myanmar and Bhutan.