PM Modi’s politics impacts Bangladesh

The India-Bangladesh joint commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation war and of the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation is a testimony to the strong friendship between the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a part of several commemorative events in Dhaka that brought back a flood of emotional memories among Indians and Bangladeshis. Modi unveiled the foundation stone for the first memorial to be built in Bangladesh to honour Indian soldiers who gave up their lives fighting for Bangladesh’s liberation back in 1971. India conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize posthumously on Bangladesh’s founding father and first President, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with whom India shared a special relationship. Underscoring their continuing co-operation, Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina signed agreements on developing a nuclear power plant, co-operation in space and artificial intelligence, train connectivity etc.

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This year is also the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh. Although relations were warm during the first few years of Bangladesh’s independence, an outcome of the supportive role India played in Bangladesh’s liberation and the fact that both countries were secular at that point, the tide turned with the rise of the military and the return of pro-Pakistan Islamist forces in Bangladesh’s politics. Delhi-Dhaka relations cooled considerably thereafter. It was only with the return of the more secular Awami League to power in Dhaka that a genuine partnership was established. The two countries signed the Farakka Treaty in 1996 over sharing of the waters of the River Farakka. They have settled their land and maritime border disputes amicably as well. Importantly, Sheikh Hasina has shown remarkable sensitivity to India’s security concerns.

However, it is hard to dispel the feeling that the India-Bangladesh relationship could have been so much more. Despite their shared history, language and culture, an undercurrent of hostility persists. This hostility stems from recent developments. India’s construction of a border fence to prevent Bangladeshis from entering India, the Modi government’s hostile policies targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims, and its description of Bangladeshi nationals as ‘termites’, have hurt Bangladeshis. Bangladeshis have always looked to India as a friend. While Modi’s anti-secular policies have turned away secular Bangladeshis, radical Islamists are furious with his ill-treatment of Muslims. India is empowering the politics and violence of the latter. Radical Islamists protested his visit violently recently. Modi’s politics is impacting developments beyond our borders and these are not in India’s best interests.