Express view on Foreign Secretary’s Bangladesh visit: Reaching out to Dhaka

The statement by the Ministry of External Affairs after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit to Bangladesh this week stated that “people are the main stakeholders in India-Bangladesh relations, and noted that India’s development cooperation and engagements with Bangladesh… are geared towards the benefit of the people of Bangladesh.” This outreach is both welcome and necessary. While Misri reportedly did bring up Delhi’s concerns over minority rights to the head of Bangladesh’s Interim Government Muhammad Yunus, the broader tone of the visit seemed directed towards “politics proofing” bilateral ties. The relationship will not, however recover overnight. That will require patient diplomatic engagement based on realpolitik.

Over the last decade, Delhi and Dhaka have built a relationship that is arguably India’s most successful in its immediate neighbourhood. Huge gains have been made in resolving legacy border issues, connectivity projects and investments, both public and private. These strides, though, were accompanied by the perception that Delhi was close to a particular dispensation in Dhaka. In the aftermath of the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, forces inimical to India fuelled this sentiment. The Foreign Secretary has done well to emphasise that the ties between the two countries are meant to serve the interests of the people, not ideologies. The attacks on minorities and diplomatic institutions like the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in Dhaka are unfortunate and call for strong condemnation. Viewing the violence through a communal-religious lens alone, though, does more harm than good. Bangladesh civil society has been successful in marginalising its hardliners — the conflation of identity and notions of national loyalty is always fraught.

Delhi’s aims must be two-fold: First, insulate the relationship from identity politics on both sides of the border. Second, to revive the goodwill among people and ensure that projects are important for both countries and the region at large — the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Secretary Misri’s visit, then, is both a new beginning and a chance to maintain continuity. New Delhi will need to manoeuvre around the politics of whichever dispensation comes to power once elections are conducted in Bangladesh. It should remain committed to a free and fair, democratic process of representation. At the same time, it also needs to let Sheikh Hasina know that while she certainly has a home in India in exile, the future of Delhi-Dhaka relations goes beyond her grievances or the political imperatives of the Awami League.