Drifting apart?

China's strategic inroad into Bangladesh and Myanmar, coupled with strained Indo-Bangladesh relations and election of Donald Trump as the US president, has pushed the fragile Muhammad Yunus regime close to China

- DIPANKAR DEY

Since August 2024, Bangladesh has been at the crossroads, as an interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, is facing an uphill task to stabilize the political crisis in the absence of an elected government. Widespread allegations of systematic persecution of religious minorities – mostly Hindus – has pushed Bangladesh into a crisis situation which demands strong political leadership. Ms. Hasina's dramatic ouster on August 5 followed weeks of student-led protests which spiralled into deadly, nationwide unrest. On that fateful day she hurriedly left the country and landed at a military base near Delhi. Since then she has been staying in India. Dr. Yunus has alleged that Ms. Hasina is continuing her political activities from India.

With Ms. Hasina's fall, Delhi's "neighbourhood first" policy has taken another jolt with Bangladesh joining Nepal in resisting any attempt at dominance by India, writes BBC. Reacting to India's Bangladesh policy, a top BNP leader and former Cabinet minister Abdul Moyeen Khan has commented that India's foreign policy bureaucrats in South Block made a "massive policy blunder" and a "political blunder" by deciding to put "all its eggs in one basket"; there is "immediate need" for India to have a "renewed look" at its Bangladesh policy in this "hour of crisis", reports The Indian Express. Unfortunately India has not shown any such endeavour.

Bangladesh shares a 4,096-kilometre long land border with five Indian states: West Bengal (2217 km), Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam (262 km). India and Bangladesh share bonds of history, language, culture, and a multitude of other commonalities – like shared eco-system. After Hasina's Awami League party came to power in 2009, India has given more than USD 7 billion (since 2010), as a line of credit to Bangladesh for infrastructure and development projects.