India was for decades the most reliable international backer of Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina, sheltering her as a young exile and supporting her government long after Bangladeshis began turning against its brutality.
The sudden collapse of her government after 15 years has left a precarious power vacuum in Bangladesh, a country of 170mn that India considers its most dependable regional partner.
It has also set back New Delhi’s regional strategy at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to counter growing Chinese influence.
And India’s decision to support Sheikh Hasina until the end risks damaging its image in the eyes of many Bangladeshis.
Indian officials have responded with alarm to the violence that followed Sheikh Hasina’s flight. Over 130 deaths were reported in Bangladesh on Monday and S Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, warned that minorities — especially Hindus, who are the majority in India — were targeted.
“There is a lot of angst in New Delhi right now about what shape the government will take,” said Shafqat Munir, senior fellow with the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies.
“But geopolitics and geographic realities dictate that . . . it will be very important to work with India.”
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