India is likely to tread cautiously with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) headed by Tarique Rahman all set to form the Government there.
While indications are there that he is keen to improve ties with India, New Delhi will face diplomatic challenges with the extradition of Sheikh Hasina, which Bangladesh is likely to seek.
Keen to repair ties with the eastern neighbour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly expressed concern and offered India’s support last year as Tarique’s mother and former prime minister Khaleda Zia was battling health issues. The BNP was quick to respond with sincere gratitude.
Days later, after Zia passed away, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar became the first Indian leader to visit Dhaka following the July 2024 unrest and met Tarique. He also handed a personal letter from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Many former Indian ambassadors welcomed the election outcome and said this is a “good news” for Bangladesh, its people and those who are “friends of Bangladesh”.
BJP MP and former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla described the poll outcome as a “good news” and said the results have “vindicated” the sentiments of the people of Bangladesh.
Shringla, among other key assignments, has also served as India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh, and keenly watched the developments in the region.
“I think in many senses, we have come full circle and the people of Bangladesh have voted for a party that represents political interest. It is a pro-liberation party and it believes in the spirit of 1971, as opposed to the Jamaat-e-Islami, which was opposed to the liberation struggle of Bangladesh in 1971,” Shringla said.
The August 2024 protests that unseated Hasina had also seen in its aftermath several symbols of the Liberation War being attacked by protesters, including the toppling of an imposing statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and torching of his old residence in Dhaka.
Shringla said the BNP chief has made “some positive statements about his intentions to maintain good relations with India, to ensure that minorities are protected in his country”.
The former envoy, however, said, it does not mean that the “spectre of a move towards a communal, radical … And Islamisation of the country is over”.
It is an important time for the pro-Liberation, largely secular forces of Bangladesh to “come together on a united front to counter these forces” that would “represent, in many senses, the end of the idea of Bangladesh”, he said.
