After polls, resetting Delhi-Dhaka relations

India's reaction to the BNP win has been swift and unreservedly positive. Expect India to work with the Tarique Rahman government to restore the relationship that was broken under Muhammad Yunus

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India's redlines are well known to those who matter in Dhaka. Within those, there is ample room for advancement of the bilateral relationship.

(AFP)

The February 2026 election in Bangladesh will go down in history as one of the most consequential for many reasons, but one among them will be the absence of the Awami League in it.

The election was free and fair, but not inclusive. While the Awami League is to blame for its predicament, it is for the people to pronounce their verdict on its record, and the democratic way to do this is through the ballot. The decision to keep the Awami League out was taken by a cabal of individuals lacking constitutional authority. The disenfranchisement of the party in this round does not mean its demise, just as the problems faced by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami in the past did not lead to theirs.

Having said this, we also need to accept that the best is the enemy of the good. In a perfect world, Bangladesh would not have come to this pass. Its record of holding, or rather lack of, regular, free, credible and inclusive elections and constitutional transfer of power, is well known. All parties are guilty of repeated assaults on democratic institutions and norms. Accusing India of being responsible for Sheikh Hasina's excesses may be expedient politics, but it does not solve the problem. In fact, the implications of such assertions are even more disturbing from a Bangladeshi point of view. Is it the suggestion that Dhaka can be run from New Delhi? Or is it being suggested that India should intervene in the internal affairs of Bangladesh? It is for Bangladesh, and Bangladesh alone, to come to terms with its past and deal with it.