The interim government in Bangladesh on Monday sent out a message to New Delhi expressing Dhaka’s interest in resuming a business as usual relationship with its biggest neighbour by delinking bilateral ties from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s stay in India.

“Bilateral relationship is a larger issue... Why would the relationship be affected if someone stays in a particular country?” Md Touhid Hossain, foreign affairs adviser to the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, shot back in response to a question on the future of the relationship between the neighbours if Hasina’s stay in India is prolonged.

“The relationship between two countries is based on mutual interest and friendship... Interests also play a role in friendship,” added the retired diplomat, who had a stint in Calcutta in the early days of his career in Bangladesh Foreign Service, during a news conference.
Hossain’s comments, after he held a briefing for foreign diplomats posted in Dhaka, assumes significance in the backdrop of a spurt in anti-India feelings that became the hallmark of the student movement in which the most anti-Hasina slogans were themed on her alleged proximity with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Some of Yunus’s public comments, in which he had criticised India for its refusal to comment on the alleged violence against quota reform protesters, were perceived as adding fuel to the anti-India fire.

After Hasina’s resignation, when unprecedented lawlessness had gripped the country, Yunus went a step further and said efforts to destabilise Bangladesh might spill over
to Myanmar, the states of northeast India and West Bengal.

The apparent anti-India tirade grew as several key constituents of the new regime not only questioned India’s decision to give shelter to Hasina, but also attributed motives to Indian media’s coverage of the attacks on the minority communities — billed by some community leaders as the worst since 1971 — after the fall of the Awami League government.

Against this backdrop, Hossain’s comments hint that the new regime in Bangladesh, saddled with the problems of falling foreign exchange reserves and runaway inflation, wants to open a fresh chapter in its relationship with India as part of a larger agenda of reviving the economy and restoring global confidence in the strife torn country.

The fact that the recent developments in Bangladesh has raised global concerns about the rule of law and state of democracy became evident at the briefing held by Hossain where the diplomatic community asked questions about their safety and security and wondered whether the new regime would honour past deals and agreements.

Promising all measures to restore law-and-order and a continuity in its bilateral and multilateral commitments, Hossain sought the cooperation of the international community to carry out reforms for a democratic and prosperous future for the country.

While it is true that Yunus enjoys the confidence of the US-led western bloc, the country’s dependence on India, for purely geographical reasons, cannot be overemphasised.

“It’s good that the interim government views its relationship with India irrespective of how India treats Hasina,” observed Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, former foreign secretary of Bangladesh.

Though there were reports in the aftermath of Hasina’s arrival in India that she would move to another country, there has been no clarity on her next destination or whether she would stay on thereafter.

The intention of the new regime, as articulated by Hossain, indeed appeared practical.

The question, however, is whether the student community and the unpredictable political forces like BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami, on which the interim regime is dependent for its survival, would be on the same page on relationship with India.