Naveen Gupta, Bareilly
Following the coronation of BNP chief Tariq Rahman to power in Bangladesh, New Delhi was hopeful that a new and positive chapter in relations with Dhaka would begin, but recent developments have dashed these hopes. Bangladesh now seems to be strategically standing completely on China’s side. The growing diplomatic closeness and new agreements between the two countries are not only a major threat to India’s external security but are also deeply hurting bilateral trade interests.
Along with this, the resurgent fundamentalism and anti-India environment on the soil of Bangladesh can become a big obstacle for our internal peace in the coming times, however, under diplomatic decorum, the Indian government has still not given up hope of improving relations and continuous efforts are going on. The process of tension in India-Bangladesh relations that started with the ouster of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina from power in the year 2024 is not showing any signs of stopping.
During the long tenure of Sheikh Hasina, the relations between the two countries remained very strong and this was the reason that during that period, countries like America, China or Pakistan could not tolerate it. Hasina always took her decisions keeping in mind the common interests of Bangladesh and India, due to which countries like America and China continued to irritate her.
It is a common discussion in diplomatic circles that because of not giving up its sovereignty on issues like St. Martin Island, America played a behind-the-scenes coup against Hasina there. Mohammad Yunus, who became the head of the interim government after Hasina, not only took anti-India decisions but also made agreements with Pakistan regarding defense deals and training of soldiers. It was he who laid the diplomatic foundation with Pakistan and China to surround the most sensitive part of India i.e. ‘Chicken Neck’ (Siliguri Corridor).
When Tariq Rahman became the Prime Minister after the elections, hopes for diplomatic reforms were raised, but the ground reality is the opposite and today the government in Dhaka is taking decisions more rapidly which put India’s security at risk. Ignoring India’s objections, Bangladesh has sought technical and economic cooperation from China for the Teesta River Water Management Project. China was trying to establish its foothold there for a long time, which it got on the pretext of this project.
Teesta river originates from Sikkim and there is an old dispute between India and Bangladesh regarding sharing of its waters, hence China’s entry as a third party in it will weaken India’s regional diplomacy. The biggest danger is that the technical experts that China will deploy there on the pretext of this project will keep a direct and close watch on the activities of India’s ‘chicken neck’. Not only this, giving another big economic and strategic blow to India, Bangladesh has decided to hand over its Mongla port to China, where Beijing will now develop a ‘Special Economic Zone’.
It is noteworthy that in the year 2015, India had signed an agreement with Bangladesh for the development of Mongla Port, the work of which was decided to be handed over to Hiranandani Group of India, but in the year 2025, the government of Mohammad Yunus snatched this project from India and now Tariq Rehman, carrying forward the same anti-India agenda, has officially handed it over to China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious ‘Bangladesh-Myanmar-China Economic Corridor’ proposal has been almost accepted by the Tariq Rahman government. Through this corridor, China wants to strategically surround India from all sides, in which Tariq Rehman is being used as a pawn. This corridor will not only increase the concerns of India but also of America, because the purpose for which Washington allowed Hasina’s coup has failed and China is completely strengthening its roots there and announcing a big economic package.
Meanwhile, India has reinstated tourist visa service for Bangladeshi citizens as a goodwill gesture, but at the diplomatic level, this cannot be considered as a concrete initiative to bring relations back on track. On the contrary, the Bangladesh government wants India to stop deporting Bangladeshi citizens from West Bengal, but from a political point of view this is not currently possible in India, because the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration in West Bengal politics has been extremely sensitive. At present, the Chief Minister of the state, Subhendu Adhikari and the Central Government are on the stand that illegal infiltrators will be sent back and till now more than 4800 infiltrators have been deported.
The Parliament of Bangladesh and the fundamentalist parties there are now spewing venom against India on this issue. History is repeating itself. Tariq Rehman’s mother Begum Khaleda Zia had also always ignored India’s interests during her Prime Ministership and worked at the instigation of Pakistan-China. Today his sons have also followed the same path. In such a situation, India needs to be extremely cautious regarding the security and diplomacy of its eastern border.
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