Fracture in Ties

While Delhimust continue to engage Dhakathrough diplomaticchannels, itshould simultaneously build deterrence bystrengthening borderinfrastructure, deepening ties with Bhutanand Myanmar, andreinforcingits influencein BIMSTECand the Indo-Pacific frameworks. The messageto Dhakamustbe unambiguous: Indiaseeks Jriendship and cooperation, but its territorialintegrityis non-negotiable. Any attemptto challenge it~throughrhetoric, cartographicaggression, or covertdestabilisation ~ will inviteadecisiveresponse.

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India’s relations with Bangladesh, once considered amodel of regional cooperation in South Asia, have entered a period of deep uncertainty and strain since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024.

The interim regime led by Nobe laureate Muhammad Yunus has displayed a pattern of behaviour that many in India interpret as openly antagonistic and strategically provocative. From inflammatory rhetoric and symbolic gestures to the revival of ties with Pakistan and growing proximity toChina, the Yunus administration appears to be steering Bangladesh away from the cooperative trajectory established during the Hasina years and into a confrontationa stance that directly threatens India’s security and territorial integrity.

Thelatest provocation came during Yunus’s meeting with Pakistan's military chief General Sahir Shamshad Mirza in Dhaka in October 2025, when the Bangladeshi leader handed over an artwork titled Art of Triumph. The cover of the artwork allegedly depicts parts of India’s Northeast ~ including Assam, Tripura, and West Bengal ~ as integral to a “Greater Bangladesh.’ This act, which Dhaka has yet to clarify or disown, has been interpreted in India as a symbolic assertion of expansionist intent. The fact that this gesture was directed at a visiting Pakistani general further magnifies its significance, evoking the spectre of a Dhaka-Islamabad rapprochement rooted in anti-India sentiment.