Big question on India-Bangladesh relations: Did New Delhi make a huge mistake by giving shelter to Sheikh Hasina?

New Delhi: There is tremendous tension currently being seen in the relations between India and Bangladesh. Amidst the political turmoil in Bangladesh, Islamic fundamentalist organizations are taking out rallies with anti-India slogans, which has increased the pressure on bilateral relations. The student movement which brought down the Sheikh Hasina government has now adopted an anti-India stance during the interim government.

There is neither talk of reforms nor of general elections in Bangladesh under the interim government led by Mohammad Yunus. Instead, many of the country’s leaders seem to be more interested in forgetting anti-India sentiments than dealing with the domestic crisis.

Sheikh Hasina

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directly blamed the Mohammad Yunus government for the sourness in India-Bangladesh relations. He alleged that the interim government was making hostile statements against India and had failed to protect religious minorities.

Sheikh Hasina told ANI that the tension you are seeing is completely the contribution of Yunus. His government issues hostile statements against India, fails to protect religious minorities, and lets extremists dictate foreign policy, then expresses surprise when tensions escalate. India has been Bangladesh’s staunchest friend and partner for decades. The ties between our countries are deep and fundamental. They will last much longer than any temporary government. I am confident that once legitimate governance is restored, Bangladesh will return to the wise partnership that we have developed over fifteen years.

Questions raised in India too, debate on asylum to Hasina

In India too, questions are being raised from many quarters whether the decision to grant asylum to Sheikh Hasina has made India-Bangladesh relations more complicated. Critics believe that by keeping Hasina in India, the avenues for dialogue and restoration of relations with Dhaka have been closed. The Bangladesh government has repeatedly demanded the extradition of Hasina from India.

KP Fabian’s opinion

Former diplomat KP Fabian supported this argument. He said that by keeping Sheikh Hasina here, India has built good relations with Bangladesh and has given an opportunity to those who want to spoil these relations. India should have done the right thing by giving her asylum when she first came. But very soon India should have found some other place for them in some other country.

Fabian also said that there is a treaty between India and Bangladesh prohibiting political extradition, but Dhaka considers Hasina a criminal and wants to bring her under the ambit of law.

Other diplomats protested

However, many other former diplomats have disagreed with this thinking. Former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Veena Sikri said in an ORF seminar that India played the role of a true friend by supporting Sheikh Hasina.

He said that suppose you have a very good friend whom you have given shelter in your house, and someone surrounds your house and tries to break the gate, what will you do? Would you make your friend a scapegoat? No, I’m sorry. This is not in line with India’s credibility. Foreign policy doesn’t work like this.

Example of Dalai Lama

Former Ambassador Kanwal Sibal also rejected the logic of sending Hasina back, writing on X that according to this logic, we should also have encouraged the Dalai Lama to seek refuge elsewhere to build better relations with China.

What is the way forward?

Experts believe that India will have to remain alert about the security threats emanating from Bangladesh while continuing diplomatic dialogue. In this uncertain period of change of power in Bangladesh, the direction of India-Bangladesh relations will depend on whether the future government there chooses stability, inclusive governance and pragmatic diplomacy or moves forward on the basis of fundamentalism and public sentiments.