India-Bangladesh ties have been maintained despite political changes, can’t be reduced to ‘single issue’, says Indian envoy

India and Bangladesh have maintained their ties despite “turbulent changes” and changes in the “political wind”  in the country, said India’s High Commissioner to Dhaka, referring to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5 and the violence that followed.

In his first such major speech to a public audience since the interim government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus took over, the envoy said that bilateral projects on transport and energy, including this week’s inauguration of a power supply line from Nepal to Bangladesh via India, as well as the continuation of trade in the past few months demonstrated how inter-linked the two countries are, and that ties cannot be reduced “to a single issue”.

The comments by High Commissioner Pranay Verma came on a day Mr. Yunus said in an address to the nation to mark 100 days in government that he would ask India to “send back” Ms. Hasina, who has been living there, a demand that could become a sore point between Delhi and Dhaka in the future.  

“The fact that our trade and economic ties, our transport and energy connectivity, and our people-to-people engagements have sustained a positive momentum, despite the turbulent changes in Bangladesh, shows that our relations are truly multifaceted, and cannot be reduced to a single agenda or issue,” Mr. Verma said, in an address to the Bay of Bengal Conference organised by the Centre for Governance Studies here on Sunday.

‘Zero-tolerance on terrorism’

Referring to Bangladesh’s decision to shut down terror camps in 2009, and curb anti-India activities in the past two decades, Mr. Verma said that the country’s “zero-tolerance on terrorism” proved vital for bilateral cooperation and prosperity. “It will remain an important factor in the future development of our two countries, our region and our relationship.” 

He added that a “strong and prosperous” Bangladesh is vital for India and vice versa. 

The comments by the High Commissioner are significant as India and Bangladesh have seen a strain in ties after Ms. Hasina’s move to India as well as amid India’s concerns over the targeting of minorities including the 13.1 million-strong Hindu community in the country. Last week, the Ministry of External Affairs once again urged the Yunus government to take “strong measures” to ensure the safety of Hindus, after reports of a number of attacks on the homes of the minority community in Chittagong.

The issue was raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a call with Mr. Yunus in August. While Mr. Yunus attended a virtual summit of the Global South hosted by PM Modi virtually, the two leaders have not met so far, and missed being in New York on the same days during the UN meet in September. Plans to meet at the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand had to be shelved due to a change in government there, and the meeting may only take place in April 2025, sources said. However, the sources pointed to a possible visit by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Dhaka in the near future. 

‘Irritants’ no deterrent

“There are irritants but they have not restricted the overall forward movement in our relations,” Mr. Verma said in his speech, adding that the inter-dependence between both countries and mutual benefit “will keep reasserting itself again and again, regardless of changes in the political wind”.

Mr. Verma had also been present during an address by Mr. Yunus at the conference on Saturday, where he called for the region and the international community to engage with the “New Bangladesh”. In his speech, Mr. Verma said Bangladesh is India’s largest trading partner in South Asia and the fifth largest in the world, and that India had given Bangladesh “duty-free, quota-free access” for more than a decade under the regional SAFTA agreement.

In a television address on Sunday, Mr. Yunus made it clear that his government would continue to pursue the extradition of Ms. Hasina to Bangladesh to stand trial in a number of cases related to police crackdown on student protesters over two months, which he said had resulted in the deaths of 1, 500 civilians, and about 20,000 being injured. He said he had also discussed the issue with the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan.

“After the July-August revolution, we inherited a country in chaos. Law enforcement forces placed in front of the people to maintain the autocratic rule,” Mr. Yunus said, adding, “We will also ask India to send back the fallen dictator Sheikh Hasina.”

India has thus far maintained that Ms. Hasina had come to India on “a short notice” in August given the security situation in the country. Bangladesh has thus far not formally requested her extradition.

(The correspondent was invited to Dhaka to attend the Bay of Bengal Conference)