The last few weeks witnessed a crisis in relations between India and Bangladesh, culminating in the Indian Foreign Secretary’s first official visit to the eastern neighbour after the Monsoon Revolution. The crisis itself was somewhat alarming, but it has led to a fuller engagement between Delhi and the interim government. The visit heralds a new normal in relations and is based on the balancing of two simultaneous dilemmas facing India vis-à-vis Bangladesh.
INDIA-BANGLADESH RELATIONS AFTER THE MONSOON CRISIS
Bangladesh is going through an opportunity to recast itself in a new light. The previous revolution (1971) helped establish Bangla distinctiveness and secularism, but perhaps at the cost of resilient democratic institutions as well as human rights. Under Sheikh Hasina, the country struggled against Islamist extremism/terrorism and poverty – achieving relative success vis-à-vis both, but not without creating strong resentment as well as backlash within the country. As is now well known, India reconciled to this state of affairs and tied its own fortunes to that of Hasina – partly out of compulsion and partly out of choice.
