Since the sudden escape of Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India on August 5, bilateral relationships have soared and continued to deteriorate with little to no sign of improvement in sight.
There are many factors that stand in the way of mending fences between the two closest neighbors. First off all, deposed Hasina has been making political statements from India, giving instructions to the supporters of her party, Awami League. This has irked the interim government and prompted it to call on Indian government to prevent Hasina from making such political actions.
And Bangladesh had already officially conveyed its discontent over the issue to the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka on November 14 and this was confirmed by Toufique Hasan, Director General of Public Diplomacy Wing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's interim government has continued to press for the extradition of Sheikh Hasina and sought Interpol's help to repatriate her from India to face criminal trial over the violent crackdown on the student-led uprising against her regime that resulted in numerous casualties.
This extradition issue was reiterated by the Chief Adviser of the interim government Professor Muhammad Yunus in an interview with Indian newspaper, The Hindu on Monday. He, however, admitted that he had no objection to her party, Awami League, contesting the elections which would take place after a package of reforms.
But Prof Yunus has outlined his vision for a closer relationship with neighbouring India based on mutual interests following economic principles like the freedom of trade. Describing India and Bangladesh as twins 'born to be together, he cautioned of taking legal steps to demand for Hasina's extradition and India's refusal to do so could mar ties between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Indian media have continued to publish negative reports about Bangladesh, highlighting some stray incidents about the persecution of religious minorities. Within hours of Sheikh Hasina's removal from power after a student-led mass uprising, reports began to appear in some Indian major media outlets that members of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh were being targeted by some activists.
Articles and videos containing misleading content emerged across Indian media and social media platforms, projecting minorities in Bangladesh at risk. But the reality was something different as those incidents occurred mostly on political grounds.
This is why the Transparency International Bangladesh in a press conference on Monday urged Indian government to show positive attitude following the positive change in Bangladesh, terming fall of Sheikh Hasina as the greatest political, strategic and diplomatic failure for India.
Apart from major trading partners in the region, Bangladesh and India have been bound together by historic relationships based on culture, tradition and people to people connectivity. For this reason, we are sure that there would be a detente between the two friendly countries by thrashing out differences in the coming days.
