Tied together by geography, ecology, history, culture, and economic interdependence, India-Bangladesh relations have remained mostly cordial and co-operative over the last five decades. Extended periods of diplomatic camaraderie overrode periodic irritants and have facilitated the two neighbours to bilaterally engage in a range of issues, including development, shared ecologies, shared waters, trade, and transit. Even as the long-standing amity between the two neighbours has perceptibly weakened following contemporaneous political changes in Bangladesh, guarded diplomatic steps are being taken after an edgy silence.

Conservation of shared ecologies is a sector of concern that had long been overlooked before finally finding a place on Indo-Bangladesh bilateral agenda.  Corridors of co-operation on river water-sharing and joint conservation of the Sundarban region have created possibilities of converging ecological and economic interests of both the countries and those in the larger Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin. Conservation partnership with Bangladesh particularly on flagship species like the tiger in Sundarban can buttress India’s environmental stewardship initiatives like the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA). There are discernible ecological and diplomatic costs of delaying transboundary cooperation on Sundarban for both countries. While decades-long efforts toward transboundary collaboration on Sundarban have been ominously stalled, the world looks on when and how the neighbours reengage meaningfully. This article examines the need, persistent challenges and viability of the pathways for cooperation.