[🇧🇩] The Nexus Between Awami League and India

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Bangladesh-India friendship bond written in blood: Mozammel Haque | News

DHAKA, Aug 19, 2023 (BSS) - Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque today said the friendship and harmony between

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Bangladesh-India friendship bond written in blood: Mozammel Haque

DHAKA, Aug 19, 2023 (BSS) - Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque today said the friendship and harmony between Bangladesh and India had been written with the letters of blood and the friendship will remain inseparable.

"Bangladesh-India friendship is not just a common friendship rather it is a deep-rooted bond written in blood of about 2,700 Indian soldiers mixed with the soil of Bengal during the great Liberation War", said Mozammel Haque.

The minister was addressing a discussion today at the Kabi Sufia Kamal auditorium of National Museum marking National Mourning Day and 48th martyrdom anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma addressed the programme as special guest while organization's president and war-wounded freedom fighter Md Rashidul, Awami League Advisor council member Mozaffar Hossain Paltu, lawmaker Basanti Chakma, lawmaker Aroma Dutta and organization's general secretary Narayan Saha Moni also addressed, among others.

The vested quarters have been hatching conspiracies to destroy the friendship but no one will be able to materialize their evil plan successful as the bonding is based on blood, Mozammel told the discussion, organised by Bangladesh-India (Bharat) Maitri Samity (Friendship Association).

Regarding America's recent activities ahead of the next national parliament election, the minister said, "There are 21 countries in the world where election is scheduled for this year. But why they (USA) are paying maximum attention to Bangladesh overlooking Pakistan, Afghanistan and many more countries".

They are giving us advice and lessons about democracy whereas their former president Donald Trump during last election said, "If I lose the election, I am not going to accept the result", he said, adding, "How such a nation whose president can talk to teach us democracy, human rights or give advice".

"Why didn't you talk about human rights during the election of Ziaur Rahman and the killing of Bangabandhu on August 15, 1975?... rather the killers have been sheltered in your country... So what is your position? Is it in favor of the murders?" he added.

The minister said, "Self-confessed murderers can never get political asylum in any country. After offering them political shelter, if you talk about human rights in this country, then the people of the world understand how rational it is".

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma said, "Bangabandhu has espoused the ideas of democracy, human rights and social justice. His indomitable spirit, visionary leadership and unwavering dedication to the welfare of his people continue to inspire the generations not just within the border of Bangladesh but beyond it as well".

"We are also expecting reaffirmation and cooperation between India and Bangladesh", he said, adding, "Bangabandhu established relation between India and Bangladesh."

Pranay Verma said, "United by common goals as our shared struggles and sacrifices of our people during the liberation war of 1971 have forced unbreakable bond and mutual respect that will continue to live on".

Today Bangladesh is on the verge of progress and development and India stand with the people of Bangladesh as a steadfast partner and committed to stand together against extremism, intolerance and violence, he added.

"As we honour the memory of Bangabandhu and his sacrifices, we remain committed to working together with Bangladesh in preserving and promoting the legacy and spirit of 1971 that remains the foundation of India-Bangladesh friendship that will be the best tribute that we can ever pay to Bangabandhu and his legacy," he said.

Presidium member of the organization and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs Benjir Ahmed and former ambassador Waliur Rahman also addressed the discussion, conducted by presidium member of the organization Bir Muktijodha Md Abdul Haque.​

 

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Relations With India "Organic", Says Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on a visit to China, has described her country's ties with India and engagements with New Delhi as "organic", saying it is "beyond a few billions of dollars of trade".

www.ndtv.com

Relations With India "Organic", Says Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said relations with India are "beyond a few billions of dollars of trade".

All IndiaPress Trust of IndiaUpdated: July 04, 2019 2:40 am IST

PM Sheikh Hasina says she has tried to position Bangladesh in a balanced manner. (File)


Beijing/Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on a visit to China, has described her country's ties with India and engagements with New Delhi as "organic", saying it is "beyond a few billions of dollars of trade".

Ms Hasina, who addressed the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in the northern Chinese port city of Dalian on Tuesday, said she always believed that despite differences in size and capacity compared to India, Bangladesh can only secure its peace and security through sustainable development and connectivity.

"It is just organic. We have shed blood together for our (Bangladesh) independence," the PM said on Bangladesh-India relations.

On the other hand, Bangladesh's relationship with China is good and "China is our partner in mega projects and economic advancements," Ms Hasina was quoted as saying by the official Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).

"Our ties with Japan are historic, not just as the largest ODA partner," she said adding, "Russia, another partner who stood by us during our liberation war, is now helping us in our energy security area".

Asked how she maintains friendship with both India and China, Ms Hasina said her government has tried to be balanced and objective in its foreign relations. "In the past 10 years of our government, I have tried to position Bangladesh in a balanced and objective manner with all our friends globally to optimise our economic and development aspirations."

She added that her government always made it clear to all that Bangladesh does not harbour any military ambition as "it is against our values and ethos".

"We amicably delimited our maritime boundary with Myanmar and India. And now, Bangladesh and India are joining hands to uniquely develop our trans-boundary river navigation," she told the WEF meeting.

"We are for a rule-based system. Yes, geo-politics will always be a part of life. But we have to carefully appreciate and balance issues (as) we cannot trade off long-term interests for short-term gains," she added.

Ms Hasina pointed out that a cooperative yet competitive environment among all countries could be the "insurance of their shared prosperity".

"During the past term of my government (2014-18), we engaged and deepened our ties with India, China, Japan, US, Europe, Russia seamlessly," she said.

She said as a fast-growing economy, Bangladesh needs each of our friends for diverse purposes, not certainly at the expenses of another. "Each of our friends has distinct competence and interest as well. As long as our relationships are based on mutual trust and respect, we all gain for our peoples," she said.​

 

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https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/218792/fm-bangladesh-tied-to-india-by-blood-to-china-by

FM: Bangladesh tied to India by blood, to China by economy
Both India and China are Bangladesh's big trading partners
Rummana Foisal NafiuRummana Foisal Nafiu
Publish : 08 Aug 2020, 03:44 PMUpdate : 08 Aug 2020, 03:44 PM

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said Bangladesh shares blood ties with India and economic ties with China, but they should not be compared as Bangladesh emphasizes on developing through cooperation and collaboration.

"Bangladesh's relations with India is rock-solid and historic while Bangladesh has economic ties with China. We must not compare," he said emphasizing on joint efforts.

Dr Momen made the remarks after visiting Mujibnagar Muktijoddha Memorial Complex where he paid tributes placing wreaths.

The foreign minister's wife Selina Momen, among others, was present.

Regarding the India-China conflict, the foreign minister said it has nothing to do with Bangladesh and will not affect its relation with the two countries.

Bangladesh is focusing on its own development, said Dr Momen, adding both India and China are Bangladesh's big trading partners and Bangladesh wants more trade benefits from India.

About celebrating Bangladesh's 50 years of independence and India's role in achieving that independence, he said: "Our victory means India's victory. Our development means India's development."

Describing Dhaka-Delhi relations as very strong, he also said that nothing can create problems in the growing relations.

"Recently, China has given permission to bring almost 8,000 products without taxes, which is a big achievement for us," he said, adding that this will not affect the country's relation with India.

Unresolved Issues

The foreign minister said Bangladesh and India resolved major bilateral issues, achieved progress on water sharing issues and other pending issues will also be resolved.

"There are some issues. We will resolve those. Keep faith in us," he said.

Asked about trials of the coronavirus vaccine in Bangladesh, the foreign minister said many countries like India and Pakistan went for collaboration.

"We didn't go for collaboration yet. It's regrettable. We should also go for collaboration," Dr Momen said.

He said a Chinese company is developing a collaboration with the icddr,b which is an institution of 28 countries.

"We have nothing to do with it. Some are trying to make it a political issue. This is purely research," Dr Momen said the government will think of it.

The foreign minister suggested talking to the Health Ministry for details.

He said the government has contributed to the European Union so that Bangladesh gets the vaccine smoothly.

Dr Momen said the vaccine should be distributed in an indiscriminate way and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said it must be made sure that no one is left behind.

Bangabandhu's Killers

The foreign minister reiterated that the government is working to bring back the convicted killers of Bangabandhu, to execute them to implement the court verdict.

"It's our hope," he said adding that one of the killers was executed recently.

The fugitives are - col (dismissed) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, lt col (relieved) Shariful Haque Dalim, maj (retd) Noor Chowdhury, maj (retd) Rashed Chowdhury and Risaldar Moslehuddin Khan. Capt Abdul Majed was hanged recently.

The foreign minister also sought support from Bangladeshi expatriates living in different countries alongside the government's initiative to bring back the remaining five fugitive convicted killers of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and execute the verdict.

One of them is in the United States while another one in Canada, he said.

On November 19, 2009, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty of 12 convicted former army officials for the assassination of Bangabandhu and his family members.

Of the fugitives, the government knew the whereabouts of Noor Chowdhury, Rashed Chowdhury and Moslehuddin while it was not sure about the other two fugitives -- Rashid and Dalim.​

 

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BJP invites AL to observe polls situation in India

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has invited Awami League to observe the overall preparation and campaign taken for the national elections in India

www.thedailystar.net

BJP invites AL to observe polls situation in India

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has invited Awami League to observe the overall preparation and campaign taken for the national elections in India.

AL Deputy Office Secretary Sayem Khan disclosed the information to media through a press release today.

According to the press release, national elections are being held in seven phases in different provinces of India.

The BJP has invited some foreign political parties to show their overall preparation and campaign in this election.

It has invited only AL from Bangladesh, the press release read.

In view of this invitation, AL Information and Research Secretary and Member of Parliament Salim Mahmud has been nominated as a representative by AL president to visit India.

The five-day tour will end on May 5.

During this visit, the AL representative will meet senior BJP leaders.​

 

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The infamous Indian dalal Obaidul Quader blames BNP for making enmity with India---a country which has made Bangladesh a desert by unilaterally withdrawing waters of common rivers.

BNP harmed country making enmity with India: Quader

Awami League general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said that BNP harmed the country by making enmity with India when the party was in power.....

www.newagebd.net

BNP harmed country making enmity with India: Quader
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka 11 May, 2024, 22:27

Obaidul Quader. | File photo.

Awami League general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said that BNP harmed the country by making enmity with India when the party was in power.

'By making enmity with India, BNP harmed the country. But Awami League government is working to protect the country's interest keeping friendly relations with India,' he told a peace and development rally at Gajnabi Road in the capital's Mohammadpur in the afternoon.

AL's Dhaka city north unit organised the rally.

Quader said, 'We don't want power but friendship (from India). Enmity had harmed us. We don't want to return to that situation anymore. As India is our friend, we have been able to realise many things from the country.'

He said that the people of this country were the source of strength of AL, not any foreign country.

The AL general secretary said that BNP had created suspicion and disbelief in the relations between Bangladesh and India by making enmity with the country.

But prime minister Sheikh Hasina has broken the wall of disbelief, he said.

Quader said that Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was signed during the tenure of prime minister Sheikh Hasina and land boundary dispute with India had also been resolved during her tenure.

Bangladesh won maritime border dispute with India in court during the tenure of AL, he mentioned.

On the other hand, Khlaeda Zia 'forgot' to raise the Ganges water issue before the Indian government when she visited the neigbouring country as the prime minister, he said.

Addressing the rally, AL presidium member Qamrul Islam said that as long as fugitive convict Tarique Rahman would stay in BNP leadership, the party could not go to parliament.

Because of Tarique Rahman, the BNP leaders are suffering from frustration, he said, adding Tarique doesn't want the BNP to go to power.

After failing in waging movement and foiling the elections, BNP is again making evil efforts to create disorder and carry out terrorist activities in the country, Qamrul Islam said.

AL joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said that there was no scope of government changeover without elections.

Apart from elections, there is no legal way of government changeover, he said, adding the people will not want government changeover in any undemocratic way.

AL presidium members Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, organising secretaries BM Mozammel Haque, Mirza Azam and Afjal Hossain, liberation war affairs secretary Mrinal Kanti Das, health affairs secretary Rokeya Sultana, agriculture and cooperative affairs secretary Faridunnahar Laily and office secretary Biplab Barua also addressed the rally, among others.

AL's Dhaka city north unit president Sheikh Bazlur Rahman chaired the rally which was moderated by its general secretary SM Mannan Kachi.​

 

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Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, and Priyanka meet PM Hasina in New Delhi

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, along with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi on Monday, the Hindustan Times reports. Sheikh Hasina was in New Delhi to

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, and Priyanka meet PM Hasina in New Delhi
Published :
Jun 10, 2024 19:41
Updated :
Jun 10, 2024 20:33

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party MP Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called on the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina this afternoon in Delhi.


Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, along with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi on Monday, the Hindustan Times reports.
FE

Sheikh Hasina was in New Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers, according to the report.

The connection between Sheikh Hasina and the Gandhi family can be traced back to the relationship between their predecessors. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina's father and the founding leader of Bangladesh, had a cordial relationship with Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India. Indira Gandhi played a significant role during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, supporting Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, which has fostered a long-standing sense of gratitude and mutual respect, the report notes.

Sheikh Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to attend high-profile event in which top leaders from India's neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean region including Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe participated.

Indian President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday hosted a banquet for the foreign dignitaries at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, an official statement said.

Bangladesh foreign minister Muhammad Hasan Mahmud said that Sheikh Hasina has expressed her willingness to work with the new government in the future to strengthen the ties.

"...PM Sheikh Hasina attended the oath-taking ceremony (of PM Modi and the council of ministers) and after that, she had a one-to-one meeting with PM Narendra Modi, where she again congratulated him and the NDA for winning the elections. She expresses her willingness to work with the new government in future to strengthen the ties," Hasan Mahmud told ANI.

"She has also invited PM Modi to visit Bangladesh," he noted.​

 

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India pressed US to go easy on Hasina: report

A year before she was deposed on August 5 in a student uprising, Indian officials began to lobby their US counterparts to stop pressuring Sheikh Hasina, the ironfisted prime minister of neighboring Bangladesh, The Washington Post said quoting US and Indian officials

www.thedailystar.net

India pressed US to go easy on Hasina: report

PHOTO: FIROZ AHMED

A year before she was deposed on August 5 in a student uprising, Indian officials began to lobby their US counterparts to stop pressuring Sheikh Hasina, the ironfisted prime minister of neighboring Bangladesh, The Washington Post said quoting US and Indian officials.

According to its report, US diplomats had publicly harangued the 76-year-old Hasina for jailing thousands of her rivals and critics ahead of an election scheduled for last January. The Biden administration had sanctioned a Bangladeshi police unit under Hasina's command accused of carrying out extrajudicial abductions and killings and had threatened imposing visa restrictions on Bangladeshis who undermined democracy or committed human rights abuses.

But in a series of meetings, Indian officials demanded that the United States tone down its pro-democracy rhetoric. If the opposition were allowed to gain power in an open election, Indian officials argued, Bangladesh would become a breeding ground for Islamist groups posing a threat to India's national security.

"You approach it at the level of democracy, but for us, the issues are much, much more serious and existential," said an Indian government adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks. "There were a lot of conversations with the Americans where we said, 'This is a core concern for us, and you can't take us as a strategic partner unless we have some kind of strategic consensus.'"

Ultimately, the Biden administration substantially softened its criticism and shelved threats of further sanctions against Hasina's government, disappointing many in Bangladesh. US officials say it was a calculated decision that had little to do with Indian pressure. Many details of the bilateral discussions and US deliberations have not been reported previously.

Now, after protesters defied the army's curfew orders and marched on Hasina's official residence, compelling her to flee to India, policymakers in both New Delhi and Washington are forced to confront whether they mishandled Bangladesh.

"There is always a balancing act in Bangladesh, as there is in many places where the situation on the ground is complicated and you want to work with the partners you have in a way that is not inconsistent with what the American people expect," said a US official, who like several others interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter's diplomatic sensitivity.

In the months leading up to the January election, divisions emerged within the US government over how to handle Bangladesh. Some in the US State Department, including then-Ambassador Peter Haas and other embassy officials, argued for a tougher stance against Hasina, particularly since President Joe Biden had campaigned on a foreign policy plank of restoring democracy, people familiar with the matter said. Haas, who has since retired, declined to comment.

Other US officials felt there was little to be gained from further alienating Hasina and risking the safety of US diplomats, including Haas, who had received threats from Hasina's followers.

Some White House officials also considered the downside of antagonising India, which made a series of appeals to the US that it moderate its pressure on Hasina, including when Indian Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in November in New Delhi, according to the people familiar with the matter. Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval also played a key role in presenting the Indian case during a visit to Washington that autumn, one of those people said.

For India, the dramatic developments in Bangladesh have turned a spotlight on its decade-long, all-in bet on Hasina, even as she grew autocratic and unpopular. For the United States, the episode has highlighted a growing dilemma: While India is seen by the Biden administration as a crucial partner in countering China, India itself is increasingly viewed by its smaller neighbors in South Asia as a meddling, aggressively nationalist power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In January, after Hasina claimed victory in a one-sided election with many of her opponents in jail or in hiding, Indian officials endorsed the election results, fueling calls from the Bangladeshi opposition for a boycott of Indian imports. Last year, in the tiny Indian Ocean country of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu rose to power as president by campaigning on an "India Out" platform. And in Sri Lanka, anti-Indian sentiment flared this year after Modi claimed on the campaign trail that his opponents gave India's rightful territory cheaply away to Sri Lanka.

"The US has built its relationship with India and has this tendency to defer to its wishes in the region, and probably nowhere was that more evident than Bangladesh," said Jon Danilowicz, a retired US diplomat who served as deputy chief of mission in Dhaka. "But the risk is like Iran 1979: If you're seen as colluding with the dictator, when the dictator falls, you're left playing catch-up." (The United States strongly backed the autocratic shah of Iran before he was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution.)

Now, Danilowicz added, "New Delhi and Washington have to show some humility and acknowledge they got Bangladesh wrong by not siding with the Bangladeshi people and their democratic aspirations."

After Hasina's ouster, which followed weeks of unrest in which hundreds of protesters were killed, Indian officials have publicly changed tack and expressed willingness to work with whoever comes to power. Last week, Modi sent his "best wishes" to Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning banker who took charge of Bangladesh's interim government, even though he criticised India for backing Hasina. Yunus has called for new, free and fair elections once stability is restored in the country.

The State Department endorsed Yunus, with spokesman Matthew Miller saying the United States hoped to see "the Bangladeshi people decide the future of the Bangladeshi government."

Aside from the United States, India had simultaneously warned other Western governments about the dangers of the opposition Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP) returning to power. "It was intense," recalled an official from a Western country allied with the United States. "They started briefing Western governments that Bangladesh could become the next Afghanistan, that the BNP could lead to instability, violence and terror."

Indian officials say they have reason to feel burned by the Bangladeshi opposition. During the rule of Hasina's rivals, the BNP, in the mid-2000s, militants smuggled weapons to attack northeast India and trained in camps inside Bangladesh with the help of Pakistani intelligence, Indian officials say. Indian and US officials say this experience with BNP rule explained why India had been so adamant on keeping Hasina in power for 15 years.

BNP leaders, who could win if elections are soon held, say they have met Indian officials in recent years to mend ties and assure them that India — and Hindus in Bangladesh — would be safe if India stopped propping up Hasina and the BNP returned.

"We've been in touch with India, trying to tell them, 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket,'" said Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, a senior BNP leader. "We have tried to assuage whatever concerns India has. It would be stupid for both sides to carry the baggage of the past."

As India grapples with the shock of suddenly losing one of its closest allies, Indian foreign policy circles and media have been awash with speculation that Washington orchestrated the removal of Hasina, who has long had a chilly relationship with the United States. US officials have staunchly denied the claim.

Others in New Delhi say India was to blame for propping up an autocrat for so long. A former senior Indian national security official said it made sense, in theory, to support Hasina, but New Delhi did not grasp the situation on the ground.

"Everybody who came from Dhaka were giving the same feedback that anti-India feelings are at an unprecedented level, yet we calculated that she has full control over the administrative and coercive arms of the state," the former Indian official said. "We thought repeated attempts to destabilise the government have failed, so she will manage again. The truth is, the whole thing just needed a spark to set the whole house on fire."​

 

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Ex-Bangladesh PM Hasina becomes diplomatic headache for India

Four weeks after ex-premier Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh by helicopter during a student-led revolution, analysts say she has become a diplomatic headache for her hosts in India...

www.newagebd.net

Ex-Bangladesh PM Hasina becomes diplomatic headache for India
Agence France-Presse . New Delhi 02 September, 2024, 22:27

Sheikh Hasina. | File photo.

Four weeks after ex-premier Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh by helicopter during a student-led revolution, analysts say she has become a diplomatic headache for her hosts in India.

Hasina’s iron-fisted tenure came to an end last month as protesters marched on her palace in Dhaka after 15 years characterised by rights abuses and opposition crackdowns.


Bangladeshi students who led the uprising are demanding she return from India, her biggest benefactor before her ouster, to be tried for the killing of protesters during the revolt.

But sending the 76-year-old back risks undermining India’s standing with its other neighbours in South Asia, where it is waging a fierce battle for influence with China.

‘India is clearly not going to want to extradite her back to Bangladesh,’ said Thomas Kean of the conflict resolution think-tank International Crisis Group.

‘The message that would send to other leaders in the region who are close to New Delhi would not be a very positive one that ultimately, India will not protect you,’ he said.

New Delhi last year saw its preferred presidential candidate in the Maldives lose to a rival that immediately tilted the strategically placed luxury tourism destination towards Beijing.

Hasina’s toppling lost India its closest ally in the region.

Those who suffered under Hasina in Bangladesh are openly hostile to India for the abuses committed by her government.

That hostility has smouldered through megaphone diplomacy waged by Hindu-nationalist Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and directed towards Bangladesh’s caretaker administration.

Modi has pledged support for the government that replaced Hasina, led by 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhummad Yunus.

But Modi, who has made championing the Hindu faith a key plank of his tenure, has also repeatedly urged Yunus’s administration to protect Bangladesh’s Hindu religious minority.

Hasina’s Awami League was considered to be more protective of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority than the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Modi used his annual Independence Day address from atop the 17th century Red Fort to suggest Bangladeshi Hindus were in danger, and later raised the matter with US president Joe Biden.

Some Bangladeshi Hindus and Hindu temples were targeted in the chaos that followed Hasina’s departure in attacks that were condemned by student leaders and the interim government.

But wildly exaggerated accounts of the violence were later reported by pro-government Indian news channels and sparked protests by Hindu activist groups loosely affiliated with Modi’s party.

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a top leader of the BNP, said India had put ‘all its fruit in one basket’ by backing Hasina, and did not know how to reverse course.

‘The people of Bangladesh want a good relationship with India, but not at the cost of their interests,’ Alamgir, one of thousands of BNP members arrested during Hasina’s tenure, said.

‘The attitude of India unfortunately is not conducive to creating confidence.’

Such is the atmosphere of distrust, when deadly floods washed through both countries in August some Bangladeshis blamed India for the deaths that resulted.

Bangladesh’s interim government has not publicly raised the issue of Hasina taking refuge in India with New Delhi — her last official whereabouts is a military airbase near the capital — but Dhaka has revoked her diplomatic passport, preventing her from travelling onwards.

The countries have a bilateral extradition treaty first signed in 2013 which would permit her return to face criminal trial.

A clause in the treaty, however, says extradition might be refused if the offence is of a ‘political character’.

India’s former ambassador to Bangladesh, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, said that the bilateral relationship is too important for Dhaka to sour it by pressing for Hasina’s return.

‘Any mature government will realise that making an issue out of Hasina staying in India is not going to give them any benefits,’ he said.​