India seems to be returning to the status quo ante in its relationship with Bangladesh that existed during the period of the unelected interim government led by Dr Mohammad Yunus between August 2024 and February this year.
At that time, bilateral ties had hit their nadir, facing numerous hiccups after the fall of the Awami League government, which had enjoyed unwavering Indian support throughout its nearly 17 years in power. India was blamed for backing a political party. That caused the age-old camaraderie between the two countries to deteriorate to its lowest level after the collapse of the Awami League regime following a July-August uprising in 2024.
However, India repeatedly reassured Bangladesh that it was keen to rebuild, reshape and restore friendship with an elected government in Dhaka. Following the February 12 national election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came to power under the leadership of party chairman Tarique Rahman, who promised to take Indo-Bangladesh ties back to where they had been before, based on bilateral interests, mutual equality and respect and the "Bangladesh First" doctrine.
From the Indian side, there were also signs of gestures aimed at improving ties with Bangladesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a personal condolence letter to Tarique Rahman through his External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, who handed it over following the death of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Later, Modi also cordially congratulated Tarique Rahman on assuming the role of Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Even India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attended the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
As a matter of fact, what was thought and promised, particularly from the Indian side, is not happening. The latest incident involving Prime Minister's Policy and Strategy Affairs Adviser Dr Zahed Ur Rahman has once again proved that India's routine practice in its day-to-day dealings with its closest neighbour, Bangladesh, is yet to be normal.
The incident is contradictory, unexpected and unfortunate when signs of warming up of bilaterateral relations are visible and a senior politician and PM Modi confident Dinesh Trivedi arrived last Friday to assume the charge of High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh.
Dr Zahed, who was not carrying a diplomatic passport, was delayed for at least two hours at Delhi airport despite the fact that details of his visit to attend a meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) had been duly provided to the Indian External Affairs Ministry. The incident prompted Dr Zahed to return home without participating in the IORA meeting.
Not only that, India has continued to put pressure on Bangladesh. Evidently, push-ins and border killings by India's Border Security Force (BSF) have been taking place every now and then. In a recent announcement, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari confirmed that the BSF has deported at least 4,800 alleged undocumented immigrants to Bangladesh, with many more awaiting deportation in detention centres. According to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), scores of push-in attempts from the Indian side have been thwarted since the beginning of June.
Unfortunately, unabated border killings by the BSF constitute another thorny issue that has embittered Bangladesh’s ties with India. Nothing seems to deter Indian forces from using lethal force against Bangladeshis either working along the border or attempting to cross it. According to estimates by Ain o Salish Kendra, more than 34 Bangladeshi citizens were killed by the BSF in 2025. Besides, more than 19 such deaths have reportedly been recorded so far this year.
Although these contentious issues were broached and discussed during the recent director general-level border conference held in New Delhi earlier this month, there was no clear assurance or even an indication from the Indian side that push-ins and border killings would halt.
Another sore issue is water sharing, which may take a serious turn if India does not renew the Ganges Water Treaty, set to expire in December this year. Although both sides have reportedly begun technical discussions on water-flow measurements, doubts persist as the Delhi government is reportedly seeking to revise the treaty in its favour to address its expanding domestic, agricultural and industrial water needs, a move that may complicate the renegotiations. Additionally, the Teesta water-sharing agreement has remained shelved, even though the river is one of the 54 transboundary rivers Bangladesh shares with India, leaving Bangladesh without its due share of the water.
All these tricky and contentious issues have prevented Dhaka-Delhi relations from growing stronger, even though their solutions largely lie in India's hands. As a result, people in Bangladesh have increasingly grown restive over India's moves in recent months. But people from both sides still look forward with hope of a détente between the two countries.
