India-Bangladesh relations in flux

Shiharan

On August 5, 2024, Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country under humiliating conditions, akin to a fugitive escaping in haste.

In her wake, Hasina left Bangladesh in a state of disarray after more than 15 years of autocratic and kleptocratic rule, leaving the interim government to grapple with a mountain of issues.

One area now under severe scrutiny is Bangladesh’s foreign policy, particularly its relationship with India. Due to geographic realities, the two nations are compelled to maintain a balanced, mutually respectful relationship that considers each other’s sensitivities for their respective security and economic prosperity. The primary responsibility for fostering such an environment lies with India, for various reasons.

However, a dispassionate assessment of the Indo-Bangladesh relationship reveals that a truly warm, heart-to-heart relationship never fully developed between the two countries, largely due to mutual suspicion. While the people of Bangladesh hold considerable goodwill, love, and affection for India—sharing centuries of common history and cultural ties, especially due to India’s support during the 1971 Liberation War—the initial goodwill soon dissipated, even among Bangladeshi freedom fighters.  

This shift in sentiment arose when Bangladeshis witnessed in dismay the plundering of their war-ravaged country by some unscrupulous Indian troops right after liberation, who transported truckloads of machinery, arms, and other assets abandoned by the Pakistani army back to India.

After Bangladesh gained independence, under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, he faced several hindrances from India, both in domestic and foreign policy matters. However, his towering personality allowed him to navigate these constraints with skill. Unfortunately, his quick transformation from a revered leader to having dictatorial traits (traits later inherited by Hasina), coupled with his shift from a multi-party democracy to a one-party state, including a raft of anti-people measures, led to his downfall and eventual assassination.
India has often stood as a stumbling block to Bangladesh’s progress. An exception was during 1996 to 2001 when Hasina first became prime minister.

However, when she was re-elected in 2008, she pursued an unprecedented foreign policy with India, once described by one of her foreign ministers as akin to a “husband and wife” relationship. From that point until her eventual flight, both governments lauded the supposed “golden age” of Indo-Bangladesh friendship, though in reality Hasina was willing to surrender the country’s sovereignty to India in exchange for retaining power indefinitely.

India supported her unwaveringly, helping her rig three successive elections and thwarting attempts to hold free and fair elections in Bangladesh. Hasina herself boasted that India would never forget what she had given to them.
As a result, India reaped significant benefits from Bangladesh, including vital trade, economic, and strategic interests.

This included transit routes to its troubled northeastern states, unrestricted use of Bangladeshi land for enhancing connectivity to strategic spots, control over coastal radars monitoring the Bay of Bengal, priority access to Chittagong port, partial control of Mongla port, and several other key areas. 

What was most alarming was the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) turning the Indo-Bangladesh border into one of the most violent borders in the world, routinely killing unarmed Bangladeshi citizens over minor infractions such as cross-border smuggling or accidentally crossing the border to graze their cattle. The Bangladeshi government’s response to these transgressions was at best  limited to meek protests or at worst blaming our own citizens. India too didn’t care much about the issue. However, since August 5 2024,   a different atmosphere has prevailed. 

Perhaps the greatest grievance Bangladeshis hold against India is its unwavering political support for the deeply unpopular Hasina regime over the past 15 years. Hasina never won an election in Bangladesh since coming to power in 2009 under a free and fair electoral process, a fact that India was fully aware of.
From the independent observers perspective, this was a fundamentally flawed foreign policy. India viewed Bangladesh as a country forever indebted to them for their role in 1971, without endeavouring to understand the sensitivities or mindset of the Bangladeshi people. India never made a serious effort to reach out to the general public of Bangladesh, choosing instead to put all its eggs in one basket, leading to their own downfall along with Hasina’s.
The policy pursued by India, characterized by tunnel vision, was not only a hallmark of the BJP government but also of its predecessor, the Congress. Prior to the 2014 election, Sujata Sen, then Foreign Secretary of India, visited Bangladesh and convinced Gen Ershad to join to legitimise Hasina’s rigged election, much to the dismay of the Bangladeshi people.
In 2014, while visiting New Delhi, I had a private meeting with my friend Shiv Shankar Menon, then India’s National Security Adviser. During our discussion, I pointed out this flaw in India’s foreign policy, and he agreed without counterargument, even mentioning that he had raised this issue with a powerful Indian cabinet minister but to no avail. His recent interview reflects his objective assessment of the Indo-Bangladesh relationship, and his clarity of mind is rare among high-ranking Indian officials.
I have known many Indian diplomats who are highly professional, intelligent, and respected for their insights into world and regional affairs. However, it is mysterious that many of them harbour patronizing views about Bangladesh and refuse to see the country from the inside. Since my permanent return to Dhaka after retiring in 2010, I have interacted with almost all the Indian high commissioners serving here, and without exception, they held identical views of Bangladesh, being trapped in a fixed preconceived notion. They see Bangladesh as primarily a fundamentalist Islamic state with ISI-sponsored anti-Indian elements, perpetually hostile to India and posing a great security threat. These narratives are deeply entrenched in their minds, and rarely do they attempt to understand the root causes of the problems.
Following Hasina’s ouster and flight to India, the Indian social and mainstream media, along with ruling party and opposition leaders, launched a venomous media war against Bangladesh, spewing lies and falsehoods, revealing their true attitude toward the country. However, in a gesture of goodwill, our Chief Adviser, Nobel Laureate Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, recently called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express his desire for maintaining a friendly relation with India. Modi responded positively but also raised concerns about the security of Hindus in Bangladesh. Dr. Yunus assured him of his full support for the minority communities and extended a warm invitation to Modi to visit Bangladesh, urging him to send a delegation of Indian journalists to see the situation on the ground.
Ironically, in a recent conversation with President Biden, Mr. Modi raised unfounded concerns about minority persecution in Bangladesh. It is worth noting that Modi himself was once issued a visa ban by the United States in 2002 due to his alleged complicity in the Gujarat pogrom against Muslims when he was Chief Minister of the state. His tenure as Prime Minister is also marred by allegations of rampant attacks and lynchings of minorities in India, and the inflammatory rhetoric of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah against Muslims and Bangladeshis is well-known.
The current Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka is a decent diplomat with sincere intentions to improve relations with Bangladesh. I have had several conversations with him, briefing him about the feelings of Bangladeshis vis-a-vis India. He has initiated some positive steps in this regard, and I believe a conducive atmosphere has now presented an opportunity for a new approach to bilateral relations.
To reconstruct the relationship between our two countries on an even keel, I propose the following recommendations for consideration by both governments:
1. Non-Interference: India must immediately cease meddling in Bangladesh’s internal affairs, including political, security, strategic, and economic matters.
2. High-Powered Commission: The two countries should constitute a high-powered joint ministerial commission( incorporating foreign policy experts) to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, particularly identifying core areas of cooperation and contentions, and make recommendations for necessary actions.
3. Review of Agreements: All agreements, treaties, and MOUs signed between the two countries since independence, including any secret treaties, should be thoroughly re-examined. Any agreement found to be against the core interests of either country should be scrapped.
4. Both countries should make sincere efforts to restrain their media outlets from spreading false rumours about each other, especially on sensitive communal issues, until the facts are fully verified.
5. It is imperative that both nations identify and implement various approaches to foster a relationship that is mutually beneficial, trustworthy, and complementary. This relationship should be perceived positively by the general public in both countries.
6. Given the existing atmosphere of mutual suspicion between the citizens of the two nations, both governments must take proactive measures to address and eliminate these negative perceptions.
7. India must acknowledge that the Interim Government of Bangladesh (IGOB) is currently grappling with numerous internal challenges as it works to restore normalcy in the country. Credible evidence suggests that the disgraced former prime minister, using Indian territory, is actively engaged in plotting and conspiring to destabilize Bangladesh and undermine the IGOB. To build trust and confidence with Bangladesh, India must unconditionally put an end to these nefarious activities by Hasina and her cohorts who are operating from within its borders.
Both countries must recognize that, whether we like it or not, geography cannot be changed, nor can history be erased. With over 4,000 kilometres of shared borders, we are destined to live as close neighbours. The choice of whether to coexist as friends or foes is one that we must make together.
Ashraf ud Doula is a Freedom Fighter, a retired Major, former Secretary, Minister of Foreign Affairs and served as Ambassador to several countries.