8 September 2024

Sheikh Hasina’s Ouster Has Muddied South Asia’s Waters – Analysis

P. K. Balachandran

India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China, are all impacted, for better or worse.

The ouster of the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by a student-led movement on August 5, has muddied South Asia’s waters. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China, are all impacted, for better or worse. Hasina’s exit in a cloud is a grave setback for India, but it opens new opportunities for the US, China, and also Pakistan.

The ouster has caused acute anxiety in India because Hasina was New Delhi’s protégé. India’s anxiety is reflected in the frenzied comments in Indian television debates, news reporting and expert opinions aired in seminar halls.

While government of India has not commented on the developments in Bangladesh, Indian think tanks and the media have attributed Hasina’s overthrow to a conspiracy hatched by Pakistan, the US and China.

India’s Stakes

The new government in Dhaka is not anti-India at least on the face of it. But it is certainly not going to be India’s camp follower as Hasina’s government was. One of the popular charges against Hasina in the movement against her was that she was India’s puppet.

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