India-Bangladesh ties have been frosty since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India after her removal in a student-led mass uprising in August, but diplomatic tensions have soared in recent days after the two South Asian neighbours traded accusations of alleged ill-treatment of the Hindu minority.
The war of words escalated after Bangladeshi authorities arrested Hindu religious leader Chinmoy Krishna Das last week on sedition charges, setting off protests across several places in India. On Monday, a Bangladeshi mission in Agartala in the northeast Indian state of Tripura was attacked, eliciting a furious reaction from Dhaka.
A day later, Dhaka summoned the Indian envoy in Bangladesh after condemning the attack.
“This particular act in Agartala stands in violation of the inviolability of diplomatic missions, as the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, asks for,” Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, calling on the Indian government to investigate the incident.
New Delhi said the attack was “deeply regrettable”. Indian authorities have since arrested seven people and suspended three police officials in connection with the attack.
What’s behind the renewed tensions between the two neighbours?
The arrest of Das, the Hindu leader, seems to be the latest trigger, but tensions have simmered since Hasina was granted asylum by India. Bangladeshi opposition and activists hold a grudge against India for its support of Hasina’s 15-year rule, marked by a crackdown on dissent and human rights abuse.
Anti-India sentiments have increased since August as Hasina has used her base in India to criticise the interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus, a highly respected economist and Nobel laureate.
On Wednesday, Hasina accused Yunus of being involved in “genocide”, adding fuel to the diplomatic fire.
“Today, I am being accused of genocide. In reality, Yunus has been involved in genocide in a meticulously designed manner,” she said in her first public address since August.
Bangladesh’s demand for the extradition of the removed prime minister seems to be the biggest diplomatic irritant between the two countries. “We will seek the return of the fallen autocrat Sheikh Hasina from India,” Yunus said last month.
New Delhi’s vocal stand on minority rights has further irked Dhaka.
Yunus has said Bangladesh does not discriminate between citizens based on their faith. According to local media reports, security around Hindu temples and neighbourhoods has been increased.
Minorities, particularly Hindus, who form 10 percent of the country’s 170-million population, have borne the brunt of attacks since Hasina’s removal, as they were associated with her Awami League party. Hindus and other minorities now feel vulnerable as right-wing forces are on the rise.
In recent days, India has expressed concern at “the surge of extremist rhetoric, increasing incidents of violence and provocation” against minorities.
“Our position on the matter is very clear – the interim government must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday, referring to the case against Das.
But Dhaka has instead accused New Delhi of exaggerating the attacks. Speaking to Indian channel India Today, Shafiqul Alam, press secretary of the Yunus government, said Hindus were more protected now than they were during Hasina’s government.
How will the attack on the Dhaka mission affect relations?
Mubashar Hasan, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo in Norway, said the attack on Dhaka’s mission in India will “obviously heighten tensions” between the two countries.
“It has now completely disrupted the stable relationship that both countries enjoyed under the previous government and there will be lack of trust between the two neighbours. Whether this tension could also impact trade relations, we will need to wait and see,” he told Al Jazeera.
India and Bangladesh became close allies under Hasina, leading to a boost in business and security ties. India-Bangladesh bilateral trade was $14bn in 2023-24.
New Delhi’s envoy to Dhaka, Pranay Verma, met acting Foreign Secretary Riaz Hamidullah on Tuesday and said the relationship between the two countries could not be based on one agenda.
India “is interested in working with the Government of Bangladesh to fulfil our shared aspirations for peace, security and development”, Verma was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper.
Anil Trigunayat, a former Indian diplomat who has also served in Bangladesh, regretted the attack on Dhaka’s mission.
“Relations [between Indian and Bangladesh] will improve in time when mob mentality subsides,” he told Al Jazeera.
Trigunayat added that India will continue with its Neighbourhood First Policy – New Delhi’s approach towards its South Asian neighbours.
“India also needs to have a better communication strategy and public diplomacy. A possible visit by Indian foreign secretary will seek to address some of the bilateral issues,” he added.
Can India-Bangladesh ties go back to the warmth of the past?
Yes, if you believe the interim leader Yunus.
“Relations between the two countries must be very close,” the interim leader was quoted as saying by the Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo on Tuesday.
“This is essential from any angle, whether it’s about economics, security or water.
“Just as we need them in our interest, they need us in their interest. So, we have to forget certain transient matters … The main thing is to maintain good relations. We have to use everything in our power to advance towards that,” he said.
Dhaka and New Delhi share close cultural, trade and geographical ties, and mutual cooperation is crucial in managing their 4,000-km (2,485-mile) border.
But Ali Riaz, a professor at Illinois State University in the US, says India’s “warm welcome” to Hasina was “unprecedented”.
“Since 2009 India has provided unqualified support to Sheikh Hasina regime, which became autocratic by the day, created an unequal relationship in favour of India, remained instrumental in Bangladesh’s domestic politics and became the shield to the autocratic regime against any international criticisms,” he said.
However, Indian diplomat Trigunayat says “there has been an erroneous narrative that has been built against India, accusing it of being supportive of Hasina.
“India has provided huge non-reciprocal assistance to Bangladesh for the benefit of the common Bangladeshi people … Today it is fashionable to make India a punching bag in which external powers are also adding fuel by the day,” he added without elaborating who the external powers are.
Speaking at a conference last month, India’s envoy Verma said relations between the two countries are “multifaceted” amid “sustained and positive momentum” in trade and economic ties and “people-to-people engagements”.
According to Riaz, “the ball is in India’s court” to improve relations.
“It is imperative that Indian government sends a clear message that it is ready and willing to make a shift in its policy and work with the current government and the people of Bangladesh … Besides, it is important that Indian government ensures that its land is not being used by Hasina or anyone else for creating instability and violence within Bangladesh,” he added.
Can foreign actors play a role?
The recent religious tensions have drawn a response from several Western leaders, including in the United Kingdom and United States.
On Tuesday, the Press Trust of India reported that US Congressman Brad Sherman asked Yunus’s government to protect Hindu minorities.
A similar concern has also been shared by diplomats in the UK and European Union.
Shairee Malhotra, deputy director and Europe fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi said policymakers in Europe are also concerned about the current instability but that India would prefer the bilateral route to resolving tensions.
“Perhaps where the EU can play a role going forward is in strengthening Bangladesh’s democratic governance structures, which would contribute to political stability within Bangladesh, and in turn more stable relations with India,” she told Al Jazeera.
Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at The Wilson Centre, a Washington, DC-based think tank, told Al Jazeera that with multiple conflicts and crises raging across the world, and with the US government in transition mode, there’s unlikely to be much third-party involvement.
“India and Bangladesh will need to work this out on their own. The good thing is that despite the tensions, the two sides have kept communication channels open and continued to talk. It’s a strained relationship but not a hostile one,” he said.
