NEW DELHI (TIP): The ouster of Bangladesh‘s autocratic premier sparked celebrations in Dhaka this week but alarm in neighbouring India, which backed Sheikh Hasina to counter rival China and quash Islamist alternatives, analysts say.
It has created a diplomatic dilemma for the regional powerhouse.
Hasina, 76, quit as prime minister in the face of a student-led uprising on Monday and fled by helicopter to longtime ally New Delhi.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to offer his “best wishes” after Bangladesh’s newly sworn-in interim leader Muhammad Yunus took power on August 8, saying New Delhi was “committed” to working with Dhaka.
But China was also swift to welcome Dhaka’s new authorities, saying it “attaches importance to the development” of relations. With Hasina’s rivals in control in Dhaka, India’s support for the old government has come back to bite.
“From the point of view of Bangladeshis, India has been on the wrong side for a couple of years now,” said International Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean.
“The Indian government absolutely did not want to see a change in Dhaka, and had made that very clear for years that they didn’t see any alternative to Hasina and the Awami League.”
Bangladesh is almost entirely encircled by India, with a deeply intertwined history long before they were partitioned out of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. But while India’s 1.4 billion population and dominating economy overshadows Bangladesh — with a population of 170 million — Hasina also courted China. (AFP)