DHAKA/NEW DELHI: Relations between India and Bangladesh have frayed sharply over the past year, reaching new lows as parliamentary elections in Bangladesh loom. The rift intensified after the 2024 overthrow of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s former leader, who fled to India and now faces criticism from Dhaka for remaining in exile rather than returning to face trial.
Read More: Do India– Bangladesh Relations Signal a New Strategic Front?
India, in turn, has protested hostile statements from Bangladeshi political parties and incidents targeting its missions, including attacks on its consulate in Chattogram. Visa operations between the two countries have been suspended reciprocally, and tensions have spilled into sports, with a Bangladeshi cricket team boycotting India’s Indian Premier League and threatening to move World Cup matches to neutral venues.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, has struggled to maintain political stability while keeping ties with India intact. India’s government has refused requests to extradite Hasina or restrict her party leaders from engaging in Bangladeshi politics from Indian soil. Both sides have accused each other of political opportunism and disinformation campaigns, and attacks on religious minorities have become a flashpoint in electoral politics, particularly in West Bengal and Assam.
Analysts note that India is seeking ways to build ties with opposition parties expected to perform strongly in Bangladesh’s upcoming elections, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, while carefully navigating the rise of conservative and Islamic parties like Jamaat-e-Islami.
Read More: Keeping India out of Pakistan-Bangladesh relations
“The political and generational upheaval in Bangladesh is such that New Delhi has to figure out a longer-term policy for a country with ramifications for its security,” said Constantino Xavier, a senior fellow at the Center for Social and Economic Progress.
The dispute highlights the challenge India faces in managing relations with a historically close neighbor amid political shifts, domestic pressures, and the influence of rising Islamic and nationalist currents in Bangladesh.