India Must Shore Up Ties With Dhaka

India's rapport with Bangladesh has plummeted to unprecedented depths, with Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus' latest sojourn in China poised to further exacerbate the anti-India sentiment.

- MANAS MUKUL BANDYOPADHYAY AND ABHISEK KARMAKAR

Since Sheikh Hasina government's dramatic fall in Dhaka last August, Bangladesh's newly minted government has deftly cultivated a narrative portraying India as a Hindu majority hegemon thereby instilling widespread animosity towards India among Bangladesh's youth, who have limited knowledge of the Bangladesh Liberation War, and India's pivotal role.

Actually, Bangladesh has managed to rebrand India as an exploitative neighbor, leveraging its Hindu majority status to foment anti-India sentiment. This rhetoric has quickly gained traction among Bangladesh's younger generation. Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus is now spearheading a major overhaul of the country's foreign policy, seeking to strengthen relationships across the continent — but notably excluding India from this effort.

Yunus' endeavors to normalize commercial, cultural, and military ties with Pakistan — India's long-time rival — have left India's strategic cognoscenti perplexed. His confabulations with the ex-President of USA, Joe Biden and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, have garnered considerable international backing for Bangladesh's nascent government. India's External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar's recent ultimatum has merely served to ratchet up tensions, while Delhi's attempts to internationalize the minority issue have only served to vitiate bilateral relations. Yunus' latest visit to China is expected to further exacerbate tensions between India and Bangladesh.

India needs an immediate recalibration of its Bangladesh policy to salvage its rapidly deteriorating relationship. As the largest neighbor and military-economic powerhouse in South Asia, India should adopt a more nuanced and mature approach, recognizing Bangladesh's incumbent regime. The protracted animosity between the two nations will have far-reaching repercussions for regional security, commerce, and India's geopolitical influence.