Nearly a month after the former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, resigned and fled to India after massive student protests broke out against her, New Delhi faces a growing dilemma as it tries to manage relations with a new leadership in Dhaka. Under the Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus, the interim government in Bangladesh that took over after Ms Wazed’s ouster has cancelled her diplomatic passport. That makes it hard for her to stay in any country for long without being given asylum formally. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the principal Opposition party in that country, has asked India to send Ms Wazed back to Dhaka where she is charged in a number of cases, including the death of protesters during the agitation that ultimately led to her removal. The foreign policy advisor of the interim government in Bangladesh has said that Dhaka might seek formal extradition of Ms Wazed, while pointing out that this could prove embarrassing for India. As the calls from Bangladesh pressuring New Delhi to hand over Ms Wazed mount, India has done what it often does in sticky situations: stay silent.

There are no easy solutions for India. Ms Wazed has long been a stalwart ally under whose rule relations between New Delhi and Dhaka strengthened considerably. India’s other friends and partners will be watching closely to see whether New Delhi stands by her. If New Delhi gives her up to the new government in Dhaka to face prosecution, India will lose credibility with other allies. On the other hand, Ms Wazed’s continuing stay in India remains a festering wound in New Delhi’s ties with Bangladesh; it is also a reminder of the deeper distrust that now plagues that relationship. On the street in Bangladesh, India is often seen as having propped up Ms Wazed’s 15-year-long rule by backing her when many in the Opposition accused her of authoritarian practices and even boycotted elections. Today, anti-India conspiracy theories — blaming New Delhi even for the devastating floods that have hit Bangladesh — find an easy breeding ground in India’s eastern neighbour. At present, little is known about Ms Wazed’s whereabouts in India or her future plans. India must work with other friends to try to secure long-term asylum for Ms Wazed elsewhere, urgently. That alone can ease the competing pressures New Delhi is confronted with — the need to protect both relations with Bangladesh and its legitimacy as a friend others can trust.