A top Bangladeshi policy analyst has said that India needs to change its diplomacy with Bangladesh without waiting for the situation to improve. He has said that after the change of power in Bangladesh, India can no longer improve its relations with Bangladesh by following its traditional diplomacy but there should be a change in it.
In an interview with The Hindu, Major General ANM Muniruzzaman (retired), president of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), called on Indian policymakers to engage with all parties across Bangladesh’s political spectrum without waiting for the situation to change.
He said, ‘India should connect with all the political parties of Bangladesh. After the events of August 5, the politics of Bangladesh is not the same as before and in this situation the diplomacy that was going on earlier cannot be maintained. India needs to understand this as soon as possible and press the reset button.’
‘The end of Sheikh Hasina government is the end of bilateral relations…’
He said that the end of the Hasina government need not be seen as the end of bilateral relations but Indian policymakers need to connect with the real stakeholders of Bangladesh i.e. the people there.
After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 4, an interim government has been formed in Bangladesh under the leadership of Nobel laureate Dr. Mohammad Yunus. This government has given the power of decision making to the people opposing Sheikh Hasina and the student organizations of Bangladesh.
Experts had warned India about the fall of Sheikh Hasina government
Expert Muniruzzaman has been talking about the declining popularity of the Sheikh Hasina government for the past few years. The retired Major General has been a famous peace ambassador at the United Nations and he recalls that he had warned India several times about the future of the Sheikh Hasina government but no heed was paid to it.
He said, ‘India has to engage with Bangladesh and resist the temptation of becoming part of any one camp. India has to be on the right side of history in Bangladesh.’
He said Bangladesh is a political challenge and the situation needs to be handled constructively.
Sheikh Hasina, who fled from Bangladesh after the student movement turned violent, has been living in India since August 5. Student leaders and the current government of Bangladesh are criticizing this a lot.
Government head Professor Mohammad Yunus met Indian High Commissioner Pranav Verma on 22 August. Actually, the Indian High Commissioner had demanded more security from the authorities in Dhaka due to anti-India sentiments in Bangladesh, after which Professor Yunus met him.
India is monitoring the new political situation of Bangladesh
While the UK and other countries are pursuing their engagement with Bangladesh’s new political leaders, India is yet to do so. On Sunday, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cook met Information and Broadcasting Advisor Nahid Islam and discussed “shared values of media freedom, transparency and accountability”.
At the same time, India is keeping a watchful eye on new leaders like Nahid Islam. Islam was one of the biggest student leaders who contributed to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
Bangladesh’s main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is meeting Chinese, Pakistani and British delegations but India has not yet made any such proposal to the party.
Muniruzzaman says that India needs to adjust to the new political leaders. Shafqat Munir, a senior research fellow at BIPSS, also believes the same.
He cautioned India, saying, ‘India needs to accept that the command is being handed over to a new generation of Bangladeshis who want to create their own future. This generation is also eager to give a new shape to relations with India. Bangladesh-India relations should be visionary and based on mutual respect and should not be beholden to any party or person.’
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