On November 10, the foreign and defence ministers of the USA and India met in New Delhi. The question of Bangladesh’s politics and its next national parliamentary election naturally came up during the two nations’ discussion of the global situation. Although the issue was not raised at the joint press briefing after the meeting, India’s Foreign Secretary, Vinay Kwatra, said that India had explicitly told the USA that Bangladesh’s politics and elections are strictly domestic affairs, and India did not believe any kind of action in this area to be justified in the interests of regional stability.
For a few months, the USA exerted some kind of pressure on India. India has already stated its opinion on the subject without making any secret of it. It should be remembered that India’s perspective was expressed to the US administration for the first time during the Modi-Biden summit meeting in Washington. However, it is vital to investigate why the USA is putting pressure on India.
As a sovereign nation where the people naturally do not see such excesses by another state as a good omen, we have seen in the past, and we are seeing it again in the run-up to the elections in Bangladesh, that the USA and the rest of the Western world always express unwanted concerns under the guise of democracy, freedom of speech, political stability, human rights, and so o . This action is not only repugnant but also defies all conventions of diplomatic decorum. It is easy to figure out that by sending different delegations to the country at different times, applying pressure, imposing conditions, and, most importantly, using the diplomatic missions stationed in the country to criticise the internal policies of the government and indirectly incite the anti-government political parties, they are trying to drag Bangladesh backward.
Despite Bangladesh’s enormous prosperity and unhindered economic progress, why are the USA and the Western world is bullying it, using democracy and human rights? For good cause, the question arises: why aren’t they paying more attention to the persecuted Palestinians in the Middle East? In the face of constant provocation by Israel’s aggression and mass killing of women and children, the so-called concern about democracy, elections, and human rights in Bangladesh reflects the USA’s hypocrisy.
Bangladesh’s bilateral ties with a number of countries, notably Japan and the USA, have already reached their golden jubilee— 50 years of relationship. However, in this case, Bangladesh and India have a special connection that will never change. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, said in Kolkata in 1972 that “the relationship between the two countries is eternal.” The primary cause of this is India’s active participation in Bangladesh’s independence struggle as well as shared national objectives. However, after the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, a long half decade of undemocratic state management, internal instability, terrorism, and radical religious fundamentalism influenced Indian security and politics.
During this time, the ISI (Pakistan’s intelligence service) utilised these corrupt actors to further its own agenda at the expense of Bangladeshi democracy. During this entire period, the USA provided active support to Pakistan. Pakistan’s failure to develop democracy after 1947 and the blow to Bangladesh’s democratic spirit are due to the same formula. It’s crucial to understand why India and the West have such divergent perspectives on Bangladesh. In actuality, Western interests are aligned with American ones. The whole Western world views the globe through the prism of America, not only in the instance of Bangladesh but also globally. There are good grounds for differing views with India on this matter.
In recent years, the influence of China, a major power in Asia, has increased, as has its distance from India. Meanwhile, India’s sphere of influence in South Asia has also suffered a lot. All the other countries except Bangladesh have pro-Chinese governments at the moment. India has a lot of bilateral interests in social, political, and economic fields with Bangladesh. Along with that, India’s internal security, especially the political instability of the seven states of North-East India, has been completely under India’s control for the past decade and a half. Behind this is the special contribution of the Bangladesh government.
Despite this, the USA continues to encourage India to shift its position on Bangladeshi politics. It understands that without the collaboration or inactivity of regional powers such as India, it would be unable to effect the necessary transformation in Bangladeshi politics. There is no way to claim that the present Bangladesh administration is gaining Indian backing by making any form of compromise. In this case, mutual understanding has acted as the most important regulator in facing some common challenges. Bangladesh’s strong diplomatic skills assist it in maintaining a balanced diplomacy.Â
Several Indian separatist groups have previously utilised Bangladesh for their own nefarious ends, but the present government’s stringent measures in this area have greatly alleviated the political situation in India. Similar to this, a number of terrorist, militant, and fundamentalist organisations that are active in Bangladesh have crossed the border and set up themselves in India to continue their operations, endangering the security of that nation. In recent years, the government of Bangladesh has taken significant action in this area. Consequently, both India’s and Bangladesh’s security worries have been significantly reduced.
We must keep in mind that US-India ties and Bangladesh-India relations are not on the same scale. In this perspective, geopolitics and regional politics must be analysed separately. Bangladesh and India have the world’s fifth-largest geographical border. Beyond border security, the future prosperity of both nations is dependent on the two countries’ sustained stable ties. Despite the fact that national interests are at the centre of these bilateral interactions, relations with Western nations are influenced by the larger geopolitical backdrop. Changes in geopolitics have a crucial effect in transforming relations in this scenario.
It should also be remembered that the current US-India relationship is guided by a strategic approach in light of geopolitics, which has been ongoing since the time of then-US President Bill Clinton in the mid-1990s. There have been many changes in global politics. The Russia of that time is challenging US power today by overcoming the fragile situation. Even the Americans do not acknowledge the existence of a unipolar global order.
In the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, India is importing Russian oil, ignoring the eyes of the West. India’s oil imports from Russia have reportedly increased 10-fold during the embargo, and by May last year, India had saved $5 billion. Despite the bitter relationship with China, the common position of China and India on Russia has created obstacles to the influence of the West in world politics. At the same time, China’s and India’s sympathy for the oppressed people of Palestine has morally questioned the position of the West in the Middle East. The threat of China and India having a stance against the USA in almost all aspects of current world politics has become a cause of great concern for it.
Despite this, the USA continues to encourage India to shift its position on Bangladeshi politics. It understands that without the collaboration or inactivity of regional powers such as India, it would be unable to effect the necessary transformation in Bangladeshi politics. There is no way to claim that the present Bangladesh administration is gaining Indian backing by making any form of compromise. In this case, mutual understanding has acted as the most important regulator in facing some common challenges. Bangladesh’s strong diplomatic skills assist it in maintaining a balanced diplomacy. Based on this, the nation would be able to retain its dignity by resisting any foreign intrigues in the coming days.
