Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has said relations with India are under strain following New Delhi’s decision to grant refuge to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted after mass student protests last year.
Speaking in New York during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Yunus claimed India was unhappy with the demonstrations that forced Hasina from power after a 15-year rule.
“We have problems with India right now because they didn’t like what the students have done. They are hosting Hasina, the former prime minister, who created all these problems and killed young people. That has created a lot of tensions between India and Bangladesh,” Yunus said in a conversation on the sidelines of the assembly.
Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024, as the student uprising toppled her government. An interim administration was subsequently installed under Yunus, who has pledged fresh elections next year.
Also read: Nobel laureate Yunus faces allegations of corruption
The Nobel laureate also criticised what he described as disinformation surrounding the protests. “Also, fake news comes from the other side, making all kinds of propaganda that this is a very bad thing, and this is an Islamic movement. These are the Talibans who took over Bangladesh. They say I am a Taliban too,” Yunus remarked.
He stressed the importance of reviving regional cooperation in South Asia. Describing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation as a family of “close members”, he urged the grouping’s reactivation after nearly a decade of dormancy.
India, meanwhile, has maintained its engagement with the interim government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Yunus in April this year on the margins of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, reiterating India’s support for a “democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh”. Modi also conveyed New Delhi’s concerns over the security of religious minorities, urging investigations into attacks on Hindus and other communities.
At the time, the Indian leader emphasised that “rhetoric that vitiates the environment is best avoided.”
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