New Delhi, 18 December (H.S.): A Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs has said that India is facing its “greatest strategic challenge in Bangladesh since the Liberation War of 1971,” citing recent political developments in the neighbouring country.
The observation was made in the Ninth Report of the committee on “Future of India-Bangladesh Relationship”, presented in Parliament. The committee is chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.Quoting a non-official witness who testified before the committee on June 26, 2025, the report said, “India faces its greatest strategic challenge in Bangladesh since the Liberation War of 1971.”
The witness told the committee that “the challenge in 1971 was existential, a humanitarian and a birth of a new nation,” whereas the present situation represents “a generational discontinuity, a shift of political order, and a potential strategic realignment away from India.”
According to the testimony cited in the report, “the collapse of Awami League dominance, the surge of youth-led nationalism, the re-entry of Islamists and intensifying Chinese and Pakistani influence collectively” marked a turning point in Bangladesh.
The committee also recorded the Foreign Secretary’s statement on former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s presence in India. Clarifying the government’s position, the Foreign Secretary told the committee that “she is making these statements by accessing her private communication devices that she has access to.”
“The Government of India does not provide her with a political platform or any political space to undertake political activity from Indian territory,” the Foreign Secretary said. He further stated that India does not “promote the practice of politics from our territory aimed against a third country.”
On the impact of recent political developments in Bangladesh on bilateral relations, the Ministry of External Affairs informed the committee that India has made “every effort to insulate bilateral relations from the impact of recent political developments.”
The ministry said India has “continued interactions with the Interim Government” and remains “supportive of the aspirations of the people of Bangladesh,” underlining that India’s policies are “people-oriented and not aimed at any particular political dispensation.”
The committee also sought to know why India could not foresee the political crisis in Bangladesh despite multiple media reports. In its written reply, the ministry said the Government of India “regularly monitors developments in Bangladesh as a priority.”
It informed the committee that in the January 7, 2024 elections, the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina won “224 of the 300 elected seats,” but noted that the voter turnout was “only about 40 per cent.”
The committee said the recent developments in Bangladesh merit “special consideration” given India’s role in the 1971 Liberation War and the close historical, cultural and economic ties between the two countries.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar
